


Nowhere To Go But Up

by HufflepuffRose



Category: Lin-Manuel Miranda - Fandom
Genre: AU ish, F/M, Fluff, Lin x Reader, Lin x you, London, Love, OC, Original Characters - Freeform, Original Female Character - Freeform, Original Male Character - Freeform, Photo Shoot, Photography, RPF, Reader-Insert, Romance, Self Insert, Smut, all that good stuff, and other mature content, photographer, reader - Freeform, some sexy times later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-01-13 11:55:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18468451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HufflepuffRose/pseuds/HufflepuffRose
Summary: Some dream of fame and fortune. Others dream of capturing it.You’re a photographer, hired for a special photo shoot to promote the release of  ‘Mary Poppins Returns’.This is your big chance to shine, to get your name out there and your work noticed once and for all. But you get a lot more than you bargained for when you discover your subject for the day is a certain Lin-Manuel Miranda...Lin/reader. Inspired by my absolute favourite photo of Lin!





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I’m very new to this site so you’ll have to bear with me if I keep bumping into things, trying to find my way around. This isn’t the first fanfic I’ve written but it’s the first ‘x reader’ type I’ve done involving a real person. So please be gentle with me!  
> Obviously for the sake of this story Lin isn’t married with kids. This is written purely for fun and not meant as any disrespect to Lin, Vanessa and their amazing family.  
> I hope you enjoy this first chapter, please let me know if you’d like to see more! 
> 
> PS. I’ve also posted this over on Wattpad so feel free to pop over and say hi there too! My username is pinkniffler

**Chapter One**

 

Was there some kind of sick, twisted rule where the one day - the _one_ day - I really didn’t want to be late, then the universe decides it hates me so much that it does _everything_ in its power to make me be just that?

I leaned over to gaze out of the taxi window once again, willing it to go faster. But the London traffic was almost at a total standstill.

_Bugger.... No, no, no, tell me this isn’t happening!_

I was _never_ going to get there at this rate!

Why did it have to be today that my alarm didn’t go off? Why did it have to be today that the boiler had to play up, meaning there was no hot water so I couldn’t even shower this morning and I had no time to ring anyone to sort it?

Why did it have to be today that I was forced to dash out of my flat like a woman possessed, with no breakfast, no coffee, no shower...no nothing. And just to add insult to injury...why did it have to be _today_ that my car decided to throw a tantrum and refused to start?

And now here I was, stuck in traffic...wonderful.

I was a photographer and I had been hired for a photo shoot for one of London’s top magazines.

And not just any old shoot, either.

It was a special _Mary Poppins_ -inspired shoot to promote the new sequel, _Mary Poppins Returns_ , which was due for release at Christmas in a couple of months. Apparently a big name connected with the film was going to be featured too but I had no idea who. Nobody had seemed bothered to fill me in on _that_ tiny detail.

All I knew for sure was that all the stops had been pulled out for this. Instead of merely shooting in a studio, it was going to be at various locations around the city; places with _Mary Poppins_ connections...Hyde Park, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and London Zoo were even allowing a session with some of their penguins.

I’d done shoots for this magazine before but nothing like on this scale. And _never_ with a celebrity.

_Mary Poppins_ had always been one of my favourites growing up and the prospect of a sequel had me all kinds of excited. The world could always use a little extra room for magic. Especially these days. So to be part of something like this was such an amazing opportunity for me.

I honestly didn’t remember a time where I didn’t have a camera strapped around my neck. It was my love and mypassion.

I moved to London to seek new challenges, new adventures...with a dream of taking wonderful pictures of wonderful things...to hopefully rub shoulders with other like-minded creatives and dreamers.

This _Mary Poppins_ shoot was just the ideal subject I needed for showcasing my knack of capturing a whimsical, dream-like, almost timeless quality in my photos.

I had worked for years building up my experience, earning a reputation along the way as a freelance wedding photographer. I ran a blog with a respectable number of followers, and instagram had become my best friend.

My style of photography was enormously influenced by nature, literature and classical art. To me, there was something beautiful in being able to immortalise a magical moment. I loved to create pictures which narrated a story within a frame....or looked like it had maybe come from an oil painting from the past.

For what was photography if not another way to tell a story? To paint a memory? We lived in a world full of crazy and beautiful things...why would I not wish to try capture and celebrate it in my own way?

Even so...it was vital I didn’t mess this up! This was a major shoot and I wanted _desperately_ to get it right. This was my big chance to impress, to see my name in glossy print, and with any luck get my work out there and noticed.

I wondered who was that I’d be photographing? Would it be Emily Blunt herself? Or maybe Dick Van Dyke? I’d heard he was making an appearance again. Imagine that!

God, this was nerve wracking enough as it was...

But why... _WHY_ did it have to be _today_ that I was late? It was my job to stay cool, calm and collected, and right now my stress levels were through the roof. 

I was just checking for the umpteenth time that I’d actually remembered to bring my camera in my rush to leave, when I heard my phone chime.

I pulled it out to see six missed calls and an angry text from Henry - my fellow photographer and pain in the arse.

 

_WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU???_

 

This was also accompanied with a voicemail from Henry threatening me with all sorts if I didn’t show my face soon. Funnily enough, this did absolutely nothing to soothe my jangling nerves.

This was the last straw. I was getting nowhere fast here... _Ah, sod it._

Mind made up, I gabbled an apology to the cab driver, handed him a tenner, before jumping out of the stationary taxi and running the rest of the way.

My heart pounded in rhythm with the pounding of my feet on the pavement, dodging round other city folk. _Not_ easy when lugging a bag full of heavy camera equipment in tow.

I nearly cried with relief when I finally made it to the magazine headquarters. I flew through the doors and hurried towards the lift. But in my stressed and nervous state, I wasn’t looking where I was going properly when -

_CRASH!_

“I’m so, _so_ sorry!” a man apologised at exactly the same time as my gasp of,

“Oh god, I’m sorry, sir!”

Our collision had made all that I was carrying tumble all over the polished floor. Camera, spare batteries, tripod, lens, keys, portable charger - you name it, down it went.

Oh, it was going to be one of _those_ mornings, was it? Fantastic.

“My fault, wasn’t paying attention where I was walking,” the man said, immediately bending down to help me gather up the scattered items, “God, I haven’t broken anything, have I?” he asked me in a worried voice.

At these words, I let out a panicked yelp and quickly grabbed up the case that contained my precious camera to check for any damage. _Oh god, please, no!_ But it was just the lens cap which had flown off. Otherwise it seemed fine. Great, that _really_ would’ve been the cherry on top of what had been a truly spectacular day so far.

“No, it’s all good,” I said, more to myself than him.

“I’ll pay for any damage - ” he offered.

“That’s really not necessary,” I told him as I frantically shoved everything back in my bag.

 I didn’t have time for this, I _needed_ to get going...

“Are you sure? I really don’t - ”

“I said it’s _fine_ , alright?” I snapped, much more harshly than I intended and regretted it instantly.

I wasn’t usually like that. Blame it on the stress and lack of coffee. So much for keeping cool, calm and collected.

I grimaced and glanced over at the man. A pair of rich brown eyes were currently giving me a sheepish expression which made me feel so guilty for snapping, I felt as though I’d just kicked Bambi.

I gave him a look of apology and sighed.

“That was rude, I’m _so_ sorry. I didn’t mean to snap, it’s just been one of those mornings - and I am so late! And this is a really important day for me and if I screw this up - ” I rambled at a hundred miles an hour. 

When I was nervous, I had the tendency to ramble. A lot.

“Hey, breathe, breathe. It’s okay,” he said kindly, seeing how upset I was getting.

I decided to heed his words, taking a slow, even breath to try calm myself.

“Better now?”

“A bit.”

The man handed me the rest of my dropped possessions, which I accepted with a grateful albeit awkward smile.

He seemed strangely familiar but right at that moment in time, I couldn’t think why. He was wearing a grey sweater, had short dark hair, goatee and the loveliest pair of eyes I’d ever seen. But then again this was London; it wasn’t exactly unusual to see famous faces and film crews around the bustling city, even if I wasn’t always familiar with their work.

“Do you need help with anything else because - ” He glanced over at the lifts before looking back to me regretfully, “I’m running late too, actually.”

“No, you go on,” I told him softly, “No point in both us being even later.”

“Sure?” When I nodded, he said, “Well, sure hope the rest of the day goes a lot better for you!”

Imagining the sort of ear ache I was likely to be getting, I doubted it. But the man’s kind words were appreciated all the same. Though I didn’t feel I deserved them after the way I’d spoken to him.

“Thank you,” I smiled, “You too. And sorry again!”

When he’d disappeared into the lift, I let out a sigh, feeling ashamed of my outburst. Let’s just add biting some poor innocent bloke’s head off to that ever growing list of things going wrong, shall we? 

Gathering up the rest of my equipment, I slung my bag over my shoulder and darted into the next lift.

Once on the right floor, I hurried along the corridor to see one very pissed off Henry standing outside the door. He was also a photographer; we shared the same agent but he was only to be assisting for this particular shoot.

He had his iPhone pressed to his ear but as he caught sight of me, he pocketed it and threw up his arms in exasperation.

“Finally! What the bloody hell are you playing at?” he hissed as I skidded to a halt next to him, “The celebrity guest has arrived and you needed to be here ages ago!”

“I know, I know! Don’t start - ”

 “How are we supposed to get anything done without a damn photographer?” 

_Ah, Henry. Your usual charming self this morning I see_.

“I just - ”

“This is a big shoot - _your_ first big shoot - you can’t just rock up whenever you feel like it!”

Did he think I didn’t _know_ that? I wasn’t doing it on purpose! I didn’t _want_ to be late.

“I know, it was just that my - ”

“Good job _he_ was late too or you’d be lucky not to be kicked off this project.”

At the time, I didn’t register what he’d said. I was too busy biting back the angry retort dancing on the tip of my tongue. I knew Henry was looking for any excuse to get me the sack so he could take my place and I didn’t want to give him any added incentive - especially not today.

“It wasn’t my fault, the traffic was - ”

But Henry just shook his head impatiently.

“Just shut up with the excuses, okay, and get your arse in there now!” 

“Gee, Henry, your encouragement is overwhelming, really touching,” I said drily, pressing a hand to my heart.

I sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, Henry did have a point. I knew how lucky I was to even be here. I wasn’t irreplaceable - there were _loads_ of talented photographers out there. I just hoped I hadn’t messed up my chances before I’d even started...

I saw Henry plaster a super fake smile onto his face as he went through into the sleek and shiny office.

Following him, I quickly brushed back my hair behind my ears and straightened my shirt in an attempt to make myself look a bit more presentable. Hoping I wasn’t looking too flustered, I took a deep breath, then hitched my face into a friendly, professional smile ready to face my unknown subject.

“Now that she’s joined us _finally_ \- ” Here, Henry threw me a filthy look. _Grr, Henry, give it a_ _rest!_ “ - this is {Y/N}, our photographer for today...”

I found myself face to face with the immaculate figure of Claudia, editor of the magazine, and the woman I needed to impress with my work today.

Uncomfortably aware that all eyes in the room were on me, I said quickly, “I’m so sorry...I had car trouble and the traffic was a nightmare, I had to ditch the taxi and hightail it the rest of the way on foot!”

“Cutting it a bit fine but never mind, you’re here now...” Claudia answered, a slight steeliness to her voice but I was relieved that she didn’t seem _too_ perturbed by my tardiness. “So, let’s get straight to it, shall we? Let me introduce you to our guest - ”

I turned to the person she was indicating who was sat just out of my line of vision. My eyes widened. I felt a jolt in my stomach and the colour drain from my face...

It was the same man I had bumped into downstairs!

“ - Lin-Manuel Miranda...”

_What?_

And then it clicked. 

Lin-Manuel Miranda.

I had just bumped into and snapped at _Lin-Manuel Miranda._

As in... ridiculously talented genius creator of _Hamilton_ , Lin-Manuel Miranda?

_He_ was the one I was going to be photographing??

You know that meme gif of Spongebob you see floating around online where he’s burying himself in sand? You know the one. That was me right now.

_Great first impression you made, {Y/N}, nice one_ , I thought.

He, however, greeted with me with a huge smile, rising from his chair and stretching out his hand to shake mine.

“Hi there, it’s great to meet you...again.”

“H-hello...again,” I stammered, trying to keep my own smile in place when all I wanted to do was crawl into a hole and disappear from existence.

Henry was gazing back and forth at us curiously.

“You two met already?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah...it was kinda my fault actually for holding up - {Y/N}, wasn’t it?” Lin spoke up. I nodded. “ - even more. We bumped into each other downstairs - literally.”

I glanced quickly back at him. Come again? _His_ fault?

I distinctly saw a flicker of disappointment and annoyance on Henry’s face that he didn’t have a reason for me to be fired after all.

“We at Soul Magazine are so honoured to have you be part of our shoot,” Claudia smiled at Lin.

“Well, thanks for having me, I’m really happy to be here,” he answered brightly, and he genuinely sounded it too. Somehow I could tell he wasn’t just being polite.

“Uh, Lin? If you want to go with our stylist, Craig...he’ll sort you out with what you’re going to be wearing. Then once we’ve run through everything with you, we’ll have our team head straight on out to the park with you, shall we?”

“Sure, sounds great!”

Before he left, he caught my gaze. He gave me a soft smile and a wink.

My heart skipped several beats and I was pretty sure I was blushing. Somewhere in my stunned disbelief and embarrassment, I wondered why he’d made out it was his fault I was late.

Maybe today wasn’t going to be such a disaster after all...?

 


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who’ve been reading and hugs all round for the kudos and comments! Really means a lot, you make me a very happy bunny!   
> So Mary Poppins Returns was released on Blu-ray here in the UK this week and I bought it today, and I’m celebrating by posting another chapter! Hope you enjoy, loves!

**Chapter Two**

 

Lin-Manuel Miranda.

I couldn’t believe it. My first celebrity shoot and it was Lin-Manuel Miranda. Of course...he was in _Mary Poppins Returns_ too.

He was someone I’d always really liked and admired. It was hard _not_ to. I wouldn’t go as far as being _obsessed_.... Alright, so there was that time where I had the _Moana_ soundtrack on a loop in my car for weeks on end...and if there was ever a point in my life where I said that I was bored of _Hamilton_ , I’d give anyone my full permission to shove me off the end of a cliff. 

But still...I was more what you might call a casual fan. So yes, maybe it _was_ best that I hadn’t been told beforehand who it was. Probably would’ve only made me even more stressed!

“Hey, {Y/N}!” a voice greeted me cheerfully.

I looked up and smiled to see Craig, the stylist in charge of coordinating Lin’s wardrobe for the shoot. I’d worked with him before on previous jobs and was the closest thing to a best friend I had here.

As we waited for our guest to get changed into his new set of clothes, Craig sidled over to me.

“Welllll, look who’s doing their first big grown up shoot then?” he crowed.

“Aw, don’t,” I begged him with a groan, “I feel sick enough as it is.”

“It’ll be fine, honey, don’t worry!” Craig soothed, moving round behind me to massage my shoulders in an attempt to ease my tension, and continued,

“Can you _believe_ it though? I get to dress Lin-Manuel Miranda...” He let out a gleeful little squeal like a kid on Christmas morning, “I can’t even! My life is complete! Mmm...but there again,” he added in a whisper, his eyes glittering wickedly, “I wouldn’t mind _un_ dressing him either. Wouldn’t kick _him_ out of bed, that’s for sure.”

My eyes widened as I stared round at him, giving a small gasp and a laugh, “Craig, you shameless hussy! Can’t believe you just said that.”

“What? Aw, come on. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t, either,” he smirked.

“Never even crossed my mind,” I replied airily as I set about fitting the right lens onto my camera and reorganising my equipment into my bag.

When I glanced up, I saw Craig was giving me a sceptical look, an eyebrow arched.

“It hasn’t!” I said, swatting him playfully on the arm.

“Really? Girl, are you blind?”

I rolled my eyes at him good-naturedly, “You’re sex mad, you are.”

“I take that as a compliment. But you’ll soon change your tune once you see what I’ve got him wearing,” Craig told me in a slightly sing-song voice.

He really wasn’t helping.

“Look, stop, will you. I know he’s famous and all but he is a person and a human being...not some object to lust over - okay, _wow_...”

I broke off when the man himself walked back into the room, before he was sat down by a couple of makeup artists, their brushes poised and at the ready.

Now I never really imagined myself the type to get star struck. But even I could not fail to be impressed by Craig’s handiwork. Alright, I had to admit it...Lin _did_ look very handsome in this new outfit the stylist had him now wearing...

A russet-coloured jacket, over a dark brown waistcoat which flatteringly hugged at his frame with matching trousers; a pale blue-grey shirt, loosely-fastened checkered tie and his braces were left undone, hanging with a sort of casual elegance down at his sides. And just to complete this vision of loveliness, he had a cap perched over his dark hair. In short...he looked so _dapper!_

Craig may have the mind of a dirty old woman but he definitely knew how to coordinate clothes.

“Never crossed your mind, you say?” Craig whispered triumphantly in my ear, “Now, am I good or am I good?”

“You’ve outdone yourself, Craig, he looks amazing...”

“Yes, I’m brilliant, I know! It’s a gift, what can I say?” the stylist gave a breezy sigh, running a hand through his sandy-blonde hair. He glanced over and seeing that the makeup team were finishing up, he turned to me, “Now it’s your turn...” he said, making shooing gestures to me, “Off you pop! Try and manage to concentrate on keeping your hands to yourself!”

I gave him another playful little shove.

“Oh, shush...and go wash your mucky mind out with soap,” I mock chided him, “Wish me luck!” I added in a terrified whisper.

“You’ve got this, sugar plum! Hang on - mascara alert,” He reached up to quickly swipe at the corner of my eyelid, “Okay, you’re good!”

Butterflies were swarming in my stomach; my mouth was dry and my legs were the consistency of jelly. Oh god... How on earth was I supposed to concentrate when Lin-Manuel Miranda was dressed like _that?_

_Ugh, stop it! Pull yourself together_ , my mind scolded, _When did you suddenly start behaving like such a teenager? I blame Craig for this... Be calm, just stay professional_ , I told myself as I approached the award-winning playwright with a friendly smile.

“Mr. Miranda - ?”

He had been absorbed by something on his phone but immediately perked his head up and looked round to see who was calling his name.

“Hi, how’s it going?” he greeted, flashing me a smile in return and straightening in his seat, “Oh and hey, please call me Lin.”

“Oh, thanks. You can call me {Y/N} because um...that’s my name.”

_Slick_.

“I’m _really_ sorry again about earlier,” I apologised quickly.

“No, no, honestly, don’t worry about it. Already forgotten,” he assured me, which made me inwardly sigh with relief.

Look, I had seen a lot of photos of this man. But nothing, I tell you, _nothing_ could have prepared me for just how expressive and...mesmerising those rich brown eyes of his were in person. I almost lost my train of thought...

What happened to not getting star struck?

“You’re looking great, by the way,” I said, gesturing to his attire.

Understatement. He looked gorgeous! Dressed like this, he reminded me of some suave-looking writer or a poet straight out of the 1920s.

“Aw thanks, d’you think?” Glancing down at himself and holding out his arms, “It’s got kind of a... _Newsies_ vibe to it. I like it!”

“Yeah, definitely!” I nodded, “This look totally suits you! Well...like they said, I’m the one who’s photographing you for this shoot. So you’re going to be stuck with me today, I’m afraid.”

“I can’t see that being a bad thing, somehow,” he answered, a smile dimpling his cheeks. But there was a warmth in his tone that had my heart stutter and beat just that little bit faster.

Forget butterflies, there was an entire zoo in my stomach now. I mentally shook myself, nervously tucking a strand of {Y/H/C} hair behind my ear.

“So anyway...” I continued briskly, “we’re going to be at different locations around London, you know, places with _Mary_ _Poppins_ connections? We’ll start off at Hyde Park...then move on to St Paul’s, then London Zoo - Oh...you okay with being around real penguins?” I added, my brows furrowing.

Even while he was currently sitting, the Latino man radiated tons of energy, seemingly incapable of staying still. He was tossing his phone from hand to hand, legs jiggling up and down in his seat, almost bubbling with enthusiasm as though super charged, but still looking at me fully in the face as if nothing interested him more than listen to me talk.

“We’re using _real_ penguins? Wow, are you serious?” His eyes lit up excitedly at my words, “Yeah, got no problem with that!”

“Great! I just wanted to make sure....check you’re happy with everything,” I elaborated.

“Yeah, I’m good. I’m really looking forward to it, I love this city...” he continued. In fact, his whole stance was full of eagerness, he was practically bouncing up and down.

“Yeah, ditto,” I nodded.

The corner of his mouth quirked up at my own eager tone.

“You a fan of _Mary Poppins?_ ” he asked me brightly.

“I _adore Mary Poppins_!” I responded, “It’s one of the reasons I really wanted to take on this job.”

I was dying to know more from him about the sequel - well, about a _lot_ of things actually - but I didn’t want to behave like some sort of boot licker. Nor did I want to lose my head and bombard him with questions; in this job I had to rein it in and keep things as laid back as possible because I knew it wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Not everyone liked having their picture taken, so I wanted him to be at ease, not feel he was under attack by probing questions all the time.

_Calm and professional_ , I reminded myself again.

But our conversation was brought to an end by the arrival of the editor, Claudia.

“Are you ready to get going?” she asked us.

“Yup, absolutely!” I answered, as Lin sprang up onto his feet.

“Let’s go! Let’s do it!” he exclaimed happily, clapping his hands and whooping.

His sheer enthusiasm was so infectious, I couldn’t help the broad grin which spread across my own face. It was like being around an excitable bouncy puppy!

Before we made our departure, however, Claudia took me to one side... She was a blonde, statuesque woman in her mid-forties and always looked so beautifully turned out, that she made one feel like a complete scruff without even trying. On the rare occasion I’d crossed paths with the editor, she seemed nice enough but there was something about her which gave me the impression she was _not_ a woman you wanted to be on the wrong side of. 

“Now, remember...” she said, “your photos are potentially going to be used as our main big feature and cover for the November issue, for all the world to see...”

I nodded my understanding. I was painfully aware of that.

“I’ve always been pleased with your work with us so far but today I’m expecting the _very_ best. So I’ll be interested in seeing the results when you get back,” Claudia continued, her eyes glinting.

With a confidence I didn’t totally believe, I told her, “I won’t let you down, promise.”

“Let’s hope not,” she answered crisply, “Good luck.”

_Eek_. No pressure then!

We headed on out into the hustle and bustle of the city, making our way to our first stop of the day: Hyde Park.

Our crew was accompanied by a large, powerfully built man I could only assume was a bodyguard. Now _that_ was definitely something else new for me. I’d never worked on a shoot which had required a bodyguard before.

Hyde Park’s trees were in glorious shades of autumn colours, making an ideal readymade backdrop. I gazed out across the vast expanse of the park’s lush greenery and couldn’t help smiling at its beauty, despite how nervous I was feeling. I had meant what I said to Lin... I really did love London and all the treasures it had to offer.

For somebody who grew up in a sleepy little town by the sea, who spent the majority of their childhood frolicking around rock pools in secluded coves; exploring sea caves because I was so convinced that fairies and dragons were real, I was more surprised than anyone that I had managed to settle and find my feet in this place. I had only been living here in the city for a few months and I was loving every minute of it. 

Who’d have thunk it? That a shy, dorky, ocean-obsessed daydreamer (with a worrying addiction to noodles) like me would love living in a crowded, stinky, loud, wonderfully vibrant city like London?

There was always so much to see, people to people-watch, a plethora of smells and sounds to bombard the senses...

We walked across the grass, towards the designated area where everything was set up with barriers and lights. A colourful mass of kites had been suspended from a nearby tree, along with a big bunch of balloons which were the chosen props for this section of the shoot; the idea being that Lin was meant to catch hold of them as though they were in flight.

“So, where do you want me to be?” Lin asked me.

“Just there, where all the kites and balloons are,” I answered, pointing, “Just do...whatever comes naturally to you...” 

“Okay!” he chirped, bounding off in that direction, “Make sure you don’t get my bad side,” he joked, calling back over his shoulder to me.

“I’m sure you don’t even have one,” I replied with a grin.

I was just setting up my camera ready on the tripod, when Henry came and stepped beside me.

“Good luck for today,” I told him brightly.

Henry only gave me a disdainful expression.

“Look, I know we’re working on the same assignment but that doesn’t make us friends,” he said flatly, causing my smile to fade.

“Wow. Sorry I spoke. I was only trying to be friendly...show some moral support, that was all,” I answered, shaking my head.

Don’t know why I bothered. But then again, I wasn’t _that_ surprised by this attitude.

With his angular features, tall frame and deep blue eyes, Henry could be quite the catch; he was good-looking and a very talented photographer...if he just didn’t have such a lousy personality.

“Reckon you’ll be able to cope with all this?” he murmured to me quietly so that no one else could hear.

I glanced over at him. The tone of his voice implied he wasn’t asking because he was concerned about me but more like he hoped that I’d crack under the pressure.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be fine,” I told him defiantly, even though my stomach was churning. I was kind of grateful I hadn’t had any breakfast this morning.

“Surprised you even know who he is,” Henry continued with a slight sneer, nodding in Lin-Manuel’s direction, who was getting ready to stand in position, chatting animatedly with Craig as he made last minute adjustments to his wardrobe. 

I rolled my eyes. Why was he always trying to make out I was so dumb?

“ ‘Course I do. Despite what you think, I haven’t been living under a rock.”

I knew what he was doing. He was trying to get me riled up so I’d lose my nerve. Make a total embarrassment out of myself in front of someone so famous. (Like I hadn’t already!) Well, I didn’t need Henry’s snide comments today of all days and I refused to rise to his bait.

“Dunno why this lot even wanted to hire a two-bit photographer like _you_ anyway...”

Two-bit? Ouch. Now _that_ stung.

_Don’t let him get to you, not today..._

Mustering up a humourless smile, I said, “Wow, you certainly know how to make a girl feel special, don’t you?”

As Henry walked away to go check on the lighting and screens, I frowned after him. Of all the people I had to have working with me...

I never could understand what that guy’s problem was. This wasn’t just about him throwing a wobbly because I was late this morning, he’d always had a bag of chips on his shoulder about me ever since the magazine had agreed to hire me six months ago. I had no idea why and as far as I knew, I’d done nothing to provoke it.

I remembered when the Warner Bros. Studio Tour were on a lookout for a photographer for extravagant new promo shots for their website. I was a huge _Harry Potter_ fan, so you could imagine how excited I was to at least try for it.

Henry had had zero interest in the project but as soon as he heard how desperate _I_ was to do it, he was all over it like a rash and deliberately put his name forward to our agent. Somehow my name was ‘mysteriously’ removed from the shortlist and I didn’t even get considered. But Henry got the job. And he didn’t even _want_ it! 

So I didn’t get why he was acting so sour about me getting _this_ gig?

Not wanting to waste any further thoughts on Henry, I took a deep shuddering breath to focus on the task in hand. Literally.

“Alrighty, my lovelies!” I called out brightly to the group at large, “Are we ready to roll?”

There was a chorus of enthusiastic “Yeah’s!” from Craig and another whoop from Lin.

_Don’t lose your head and freak out... you can do this, everything’s going to be fine.._.

“Okay,” I murmured to my camera, “we’ve been through a lot together, you and me, so don’t let me down today, got it?”

And I pressed a kiss to it for luck.

Hey, I never claimed I was normal.

~*~ 

_A/N: Not a lot of Lin interaction in this one I know but there’s plenty more to come! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, lovelies!_

_So the photo of Lin that inspired me to write this and also the outfit this chapter is referring to is this one..._

**<https://pin.it/pbliej3clphb3t> **

 


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

 

 

So far, much to my utter relief, things were running pretty smoothly.

The sky was a pale, mottled grey but not too dark, ideal photographing conditions. Plus, it wasn’t raining - a miracle in itself!

I was told I had to be quick about it. Celebs were crazy busy with little time to spare. Especially somebody like Lin...there must have been a thousand and one other places he needed to be after this.

Lin, however, did not appear to be in any kind of rush. Whenever Henry tried to chivvy things along to move on to the next location, the playwright kept insisting he didn’t like to leave until _I_ was entirely happy. While this seemed to thoroughly irritate Henry for some reason, I thought it was...actually really sweet. I wasn’t used to such courtesy.

Lin was wildly enthusiastic about everything. He asked the crew questions because he seemed genuinely interested to know about things. He was charming, easygoing and nothing was too much trouble. In between shots, we were even treated to a round of freestyle rapping. Then, after some teensy bit of gentle prompting from me, he was telling funny stories of his time as a kid, where he faked a serious injury to get sent home from summer camp.

Once done at the Park, we moved our equipment, lights and barriers and we all headed a couple of miles into the city to our next stop: the grand and beautiful St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

It was somewhere I had passed by many times; its magnificent dome, stone columns and the sheer size of the place drawing the eye like a beacon as it dominated London’s skyline...but I had never actually set foot inside. 

The sun was just beginning to emerge from behind the clouds as I had Lin stand in position out on the wide steps, me stood a couple below him, camera at the ready.

Unsurprisingly, Lin’s appearance out on the streets did _not_ go unnoticed...

We had to pause for a while when some shrieking fans appeared a little distance away on the other side of the protecting barriers. Lin waved to them, flashing a huge smile, which made them squeal even louder, bordering on the hysterical.

I couldn’t help a little laugh as we heard them scream, “WE LOVE YOU, LIN!!”

The big bodyguard went to shoo them away so we could continue, but I didn’t honestly mind. They were only showing their love and who could blame them for that?

It was that which made it all hit home for me.

Like I said, I wasn’t usually one for being star struck but even I could appreciate how utterly surreal this was. A real ‘pinch me’ moment. I could hardly believe _the_ Lin-Manuel Miranda was stood right in front of me and _I_ was the one photographing him! Little old me!

For somebody like him, having a huge lens shoved in his face must be second nature. Me, on the other hand...I was just a mere drop in the bucket in a long line of photographers.

Self doubt began to creep in, like the bitch it was when you were feeling nervous. All of a sudden, I felt such an amateur. Maybe Henry was right...maybe I _was_ out of my depth, maybe I _wasn’t_ good enough for this...

I was way more comfortable taking whimsical shots of nature; dreamy sunsets, seascapes shrouded in mist or happy couples on their wedding day. _This_ was a whole different ball game.

“You okay? You still seem nervous,” said a voice, not unkindly, breaking into my thoughts.

I glanced up over the bridge of my camera to see my subject was looking right at me with a lopsided smile. Not at the camera. Me. 

“Am I that scary?” Lin continued with a wider grin. 

I thought I had actually been trying my best to not let my nerves show. Maybe he was just super perceptive. My face relaxed back into a smile at his words.

“No, not at all,” I chuckled, “Actually... you’re about as intimidating as a pink marshmallow,” I said in a lightly teasing voice.

He let out a laugh at this, “Thanks...I think?”

“No, it’s just that this is my first big celebrity shoot I’ve worked on and I really need to impress the bosses,” I confessed.

“Your first?” Lin asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise, “Wow, you’ve really been thrown into the deep end, haven’t you?”

“You could say that,” I nodded, peering back through the viewfinder, “Could you just shift a little to your left for me, please?” I added.

“Sure!” He sidestepped slightly, planting his feet slightly apart and shoving his hands into his pockets. “Here?”

“Perfect. Thank you.”

Just like I’d hoped for, now that he had moved, the pale autumn sunlight which was peeking cautiously through the clouds and around the cathedral’s columns, now shone softly upon his olive skin...bringing out this wonderful shine to his already vibrant eyes.

“And I know you’ve got an amazing smile and everything but not for in this one, please,” I requested, zooming in, “And look to your right...? Tilt your chin up a little as well...looovely...”

And I took the shot.

I trotted further up the steps, closer to him, about to take a picture from a different angle, when Lin spoke up.

“Listen, when I was on set for _Mary Poppins Returns_ , I got nervous because I’d never worked on a movie of _that_ scale before...” he admitted to me, “Everybody’s got to start somewhere..and take it from me, for the record, I think you’re doing an awesome job,” he said encouragingly.

I gave an embarrassed shrug but couldn’t stop the smile spreading across my face and feel a thrill of delight at his compliment.

“Thanks. Well, what can I say? I’ve got an awesome muse,” I motioned to him, but he shook his head.

“Nah, I’m not taking all the credit for this, it’s talented people like _you_ guys that make us look good.”

I lowered my camera slightly to look at him. 

“That means a lot to me to hear that, coming from you,” I murmured sincerely.

“Yeah, I can tell,” he said in a gentler tone, turning the full brunt of those gorgeous chocolate eyes on me. The effect was _very_ distracting. They were one of the most striking pair of eyes I’d ever had the pleasure to be lost in.

I suddenly realised I’d been staring at him for far too long. 

_Gah, focus! Literally...focus!_

Dropping my gaze back to the viewfinder, I changed the subject abruptly.

“So um...what was it like getting to work with Dick Van Dyke?”

Lin’s eyes lit up at the question.

“Oh my god, he is _magical_ in this movie...” and off he went again, going on this gushing monologue and gesturing with enthusiasm once more; on what an incredible experience it was to be able to work with such a legend... how full of energy he was on set for a man in his nineties, and how he made everybody feel like a child again.

I almost forgot that I was supposed to be taking photos, I was too busy gazing raptly as I listened to him talk with fascination, feeling like a starry-eyed child myself, listening to their favourite story. 

But his encouraging words had made me feel so much better about things after that.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo! Thank you all so much for the kudos and the super sweet and kind comments for this story! You warm my little heart. I’ve been reading them over and over, especially on days when I need cheering up, so thank you, thank you! So glad to know I’m not alone in being in love with that photo of Lin *heart eyes* Hope you’re all doing well and I hope you enjoy this new update! Much love <3

**Chapter Four**

 

 

“Craig...I need help.”

“Darling, tell me something I don’t know,” the stylist replied teasingly.

“Oh, you’re hilarious,” I told him, “You wouldn’t have an umbrella in your collection of goodies, by any chance?”

“Uhhh...” Craig turned to look in the box in the back of his car, where the crew had been keeping our collection of props for the whole _Mary Poppins_ theme, “Yep! Here - ”

He brought one out and handed it to me, and I emitted a noise of triumph and gratitude, “Craig, you’re the best, thank you!”

“Again...tell me something I _don’t_ know! Why do you want it, anyway?” he asked, eyeing me with curiosity but I tapped my nose.

“All will be revealed....I’ve got an idea...”

Lin might have been gracious enough to say he wasn’t taking the credit for our work today but even so, it was almost impossible for me not to feel really inspired by his presence. 

Spurred on by his words of encouragement from before, and with no shortage of contagious energy or lack of willingness and positivity on his side, it made me relax more, stop being nervous (well, not so much anyway) and actually enjoy myself.

Yes, the pressure to come up with the goods was still there...but who knew when an opportunity like this would ever knock upon my door again?

Although our next stop after leaving St. Paul’s was meant to be at the Zoo, I was hit by sudden inspiration.

I suggested to the crew that we went to the embankment down by the Thames. Seeing as Lin was playing a lamplighter in the film, it only made total sense we could make use of the avenue of old fashioned lampposts which lined the river there.

I knew that I was probably pushing my luck with this detour, what with this being my first big shoot and all, but my head was now simply buzzing with ideas like a horde of excitable bees and the opportunity was too good to pass up. I wasn’t about to throw away my shot!

To my relief, Lin was all for it, apparently intrigued by what I had in store next.

When we reached the river a few minutes’ drive later, it seemed that luck was on my side once again.

The light from the weak October sun was creating this wonderful hazy softness as it reflected off the Thames’ rippling surface with a pearly shimmer. Look, I was a photographer - I geeked out over stuff like this!

Us camera-crazy peeps tended to see beauty even in the smallest things...things that generally went unnoticed by the casual passerby.

I was often praised by others for my ability to make even the most ordinary, simple things look stunning, be it a rusty old car, or a romantic fairytale wedding. (“Wow, that’s not the same thing _I_ was looking at, how did you _do_ that?”)

But I was well aware that not _everybody_ appreciated it.

Some of my non-photographer friends would glaze over, roll their eyes or become impatient with my...strange little habits, shall we say... They would look at me like I was a crazy woman with an actual genuinely concerned, “Is she okay?” when I was practically breaking my neck or lying on the floor, contorting into the weirdest, inelegant of positions in order to nail that perfect shot.

If you wanted somebody who was always up for a spontaneous road trip or adventure, then I was your girl. But I didn’t make a great walking companion, that was for sure; for I’d have the tendency to be in my own little world and randomly swerve off to take a picture of a bird, or a tree simply because the way the sun shone through its leaves was too beautiful for me to resist.

But Lin, however, never once showed any signs of impatience with me and my utter geekiness as I prattled on about how amazing the atmosphere and light here was.

In fact...I couldn’t help but notice... No... no, I was imagining things, surely? But yet another thing we photographers had a certain knack for and that was spotting things others didn’t.

While the makeup team were fixing Lin’s hair, retouching makeup and what not; and I was skittering back and forth by the wall where the lampposts stood, muttering to myself as I tried to decide where best for him to be... I definitely couldn’t help but notice out of the corner of my eye, he was watching me with this curious, almost amused little smile on his face; as he stood waiting with his hands in his pockets.

However, when I happened to glance over at him, he averted his gaze downwards and turned his head as if he didn’t want to be caught openly staring.

Okay...so what _was_ that exactly?

But I tried to tell myself to shake the feeling off. I probably _was_ just imagining things...

Knowing how important it was for me make the star guest look at his absolute glorious best in the photos, I decided to use a silver reflector to help bounce some of this lovely soft light back onto him, which I passed to Henry to hold up for me.

As I finally returned to Lin, holding the umbrella behind my back, he asked with keenness, “Sooo...what’s your idea?” 

“Well... _you_ inspired me for this concept, actually...” I admitted with a smile, “I know how you love your classic musicals, right? So I’ve got a little treat for you...”

I noticed something spark in his eyes at this, “Okay, now I _am_ intrigued, tell me more...”

“How would you fancy pretending you’re Gene Kelly for a while?” I chirped, and pulled the umbrella I’d been hiding from behind my back and held it out towards him with a flourish.

The biggest smile you could ever imagine spread across his face. Not only did it easily outshine the autumn sun above us, it would make the Cheshire Cat insanely jealous. It was a smile which could warm the very soul.

“Seriously? You’re making one of my wildest dreams come true right now!”

Lin was now looking ecstatic, as if all his birthdays had come at once, as he took the umbrella from me and began twirling it around, already getting into character.

I beamed back at him as I felt my heart swell. I thought I might just burst at hearing those words from him. The fact that my idea was making Lin-Manuel Miranda so happy gave me a lovely and warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

“ ‘Cause I was thinking...” I continued, “of doing something inspired by the style of vintage Hollywood musicals... I’m hoping to make the finished photos look as if they’ve come straight out of a classic movie, you know? Ooh, I know! Maybe something like - ”

These words were hardly out of my mouth, however, when Lin disappeared from my side.

I turned to watch as in one bounding move, he pulled himself up onto the wall and caught hold of the nearest lamppost. Gripping on with one hand, he swung round and then leaned out to strike that famous pose straight out of the iconic sequence from _Singin’ in the Rain_.

“Something like this?” he finished for me.

An even wider grin spread across my face.

“Yes...exactly like that,” I nodded, pleased that he was on the same wavelength.

“I suddenly feel right at home!” he said, tapping at the lamppost almost fondly, as Craig stepped forward to give his input.

“Okey-dokey, but before we do anything else, my sugar plums, let’s change things up a wee little bit!” the stylist suggested, twirling an elegant hand at Lin’s outfit.

“You’re the boss,” Lin exclaimed brightly as he hopped back down to ground level beside us.

Craig had Lin shed his outer jacket this time, with his waistcoat now on display, and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt too, so it was reminiscent of Gene Kelly’s costume from the _Broadway Melody_ scene.

When the playwright wasn’t looking, Craig waggled his eyebrows suggestively at me and I remembered his comments from earlier about getting the chance to undress him. I only shook my head back at him, mouthing, “Stop it!”

Lin then held out his arms as if waiting for my seal of approval. My eyes roved appraisingly over his figure. _Not_ an unpleasant experience, I wasn’t going to lie...

“Hm...maybe lose the tie this time as well...? Yeah, that’s better...”

Once Craig deemed himself satisfied, I had Lin go and ready himself into position by the lamppost again. I stood further alongside the wall, and held up my camera to peer through the viewfinder.

“Sorry to be nit-picky but can I just do one more teensy weensy thing?” I added, holding up a finger.

Lin raised a curious eyebrow at me, “Go for it,” he encouraged.

As I drew closer to him, I could feel his gaze upon me as I did so. He wasn’t all that tall, I noticed, but he was still taller than I was. I reached up a hand to gently tug the brim of his newsboy cap to a lower angle.

In that brief moment, his smiling eyes met mine...but the intensity of them caught me so much by surprise, that pleasant tingles ran all the way down my spine and sent my heart a-flutter. Realising just how close together we now were, it was all I could do to keep myself from blushing under his endlessly captivating gaze.

_Ahhh, what is happening right now?_

Trying _very_ hard to keep my own face impassive and stay in professional mode, I then stepped back a little to admire the effect with my head tilted to one side.

Maybe it was the old romantic in me but Lin definitely had this intriguing glint in his eye, and what with him being dressed in this classic-inspired outfit, he really did remind me of a character of the silver screen from a bygone era. Something endearing, charming and playful all at the same time.

“You have the loveliest eyes ever...” I suddenly murmured quietly, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

I saw him look quickly back at me with a sort of surprised curiosity at my directness. I blinked, as though snapping myself out of a trance.

_Bugger. Did I say that out loud?!_

God, now I really _was_ blushing!

“To photograph, I mean!” I hastily amended, not wanting him to think I was a _total_ creep, “They’re so dark and expressive and - d’you know what? I’m sorry - I didn’t - I’ll just stop talking - ” I rambled, quickly holding up my camera in front of my face again to hopefully disguise the heat which was now creeping up my cheeks. 

“Yup, hashtag no filter,” he jokingly replied, before adding, “And it’s fine, really...” he assured at seeing my embarrassment for being so forward.

A series of emotions were flitting across the Latino’s face but too quickly for me to interpret. Eventually, his features relaxed into a soft smile. To my relief, he seemed genuinely pleased at my compliment, despite how clumsily it was given.

“It’s really sweet of you to say, thank you...” he said, but again, it wasn’t the words so much, but the warmth in his voice that brought those pesky butterflies back.

I retreated further back along the wall, feeling flustered.

_What the heck is this guy doing to me? And why am I such a dork? Keep it together...friendly and professional, remember?_ I told myself once again.

“Shall we?” I said, indicating we ought to carry on with the shoot.

Lin hoisted himself up and balanced on top of the wall, resuming his position on the lamppost. For the next few minutes, I snapped picture after picture of him in various playful Gene Kelly-esque poses with the umbrella, pulling a multitude of facial expressions.

I prayed he wouldn’t slip off the wall...one false move and he’d be in danger of tumbling down into the river below us.

After a while, my camera started bleeping, demanding for a change of batteries.

But while I was doing so, almost as if he couldn’t resist the urge to do it, without warning, Lin suddenly spun his whole body around the post and onto the wall on the other side.

I watched as, much to my absolute delight, I was treated to a little sneak preview of the lamplighter’s dance routine, and other bits and pieces of choreography he’d learned while working on _Poppins_.

Then he started doing hat tricks, tossing his cap up to try hook it onto the post. I applauded and let out a cheer at each success and he gave me a theatrical bow.

Which was all well and good...but then, in a moment of mischief, he made this death-defying swing round the post this time...leaned right over, pretended to let go before grabbing it again to stop himself actually falling.

My heart almost stopped, thinking for one _terrifying_ second that he really _was_ going to fall off!

“Oh my god - no! Lin, what are you doing?!” I yelped, “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

He shot me a sly little smirk and when he moved his hand as if to let go _again_ , I quickly grabbed hold of his arm in panic just in case, my heart thudding like mad.

“No! _Stop_ that!” my voice caught somewhere between a yelp and a giggle.

A cheeky smile creased his eyes in laughter.

“You should see your face right now!” he snickered, leaning the length of his body back up against the lamppost.

Realising he’d only been messing with me, I folded my arms across my chest and favoured him with a mock glare.

“If you fall in that river, sunshine, I won’t jump in after you,” I warned.

“Awwww...”

He suddenly pooched out his bottom lip at me, giving me such adorable puppy dog eyes, which could melt even the hardest heart of stone.

_Damn you, sir, with your beautiful eyes...they’ll be the death of me, I swear..._

I playfully rolled my own eyes and let out a soft laugh, unable to maintain a straight face.

“Okaaay, fine, I would....but only ‘cause if you die, I won’t get paid!” I teased.

Lin gave a feigned gasp of shock, “Well, we can’t have _that_ now!”

“No, seriously, _please_ be careful,” I pleaded in a more sober tone, “I don’t want a murder charge on my hands, thanks.”

I knew he wasn’t really insane enough to put himself in harm’s way but all the same, I couldn’t pretend my heart wasn’t in my mouth just then. Great, that was all I needed...to be the woman who was responsible for letting Lin-Manuel Miranda to go and drown, on her watch. 

“Sorry, I’m just goofing around,” he chuckled, “I’ll behave myself, I promise,” he added with more earnestness, pressing a hand to his heart, “What is it you want me to do now?”

“It’s fine, I don’t mind, just don’t _die_... What you were doing just now with the umbrella thing was perfect, do exactly - ”

But I was interrupted by a loud and poorly-disguised sigh of impatience.

“Ugh, for the love of - Can I just remind you both that we haven’t got _all_ day?” I heard Henry snark from some distance behind me.

I glanced round at my colleague. While he’d been polite to our guest’s face so far during the shoot, Henry seemed to find Lin’s antics highly irritating. He was currently scowling over at us.

Now what was his problem?

I sighed and hopped off the wall. As I was changing lenses, I walked over to Henry and whispered, “What’s up with _you?”_

“Nothing,” Henry said, his voice annoyingly airy even though he was glaring.

“Would you mind telling your face that, please?” I said.

“He’s getting on my fucking nerves,” the assistant hissed viciously, dropping all pretence now, “This is just holding things up even more.”

I got the impression this wasn’t the entire reason but I was too annoyed at this point to care.

“Rude, much? You do know he’s taking valuable, precious time out of his schedule to do this shoot for us?” I reminded him.

Henry scoffed.

“Well, aren’t we the lucky ones,” he muttered sarcastically.

Now it was my turn for irritation and even anger to flare up inside me. Trust Henry to come along and burst my bubble... I knew he had a problem with _me_. I could deal with that. (It wasn’t exactly fun but I could deal with it.) But there was no need to be such a douchebag about our guest as well, who I’d been trying my best to feel welcome.

I wanted today to be a success...not have Henry glaring and hissing from the sidelines like some vindictive goose.

Remembering my own promise of not letting him get to me, I beat the feeling back down and whispered as calmly as possible,

“If it bothers you so much, Henry, you don’t have to stick around. Nobody’s forcing you to be here, you know. Look, I’ve only got a few more shots to do here....are you going to help me with this or not...?”

“Not,” he retorted, shoving the shiny reflector disc he’d been holding at me, “Here, you can hold your own damn reflector, I’ll be at the car. Let us know when you can tear yourself away, won’t you?” he shot, roughly pushing past me with his shoulder.

_Ugghh_... Was Henry born annoying or did he have to go take an online course on it?

As I returned to the line of lamps, Lin asked, “Everything okay?”

His tone was casual but there was a hint of concern in his soft brown eyes that I felt my exasperation melt away almost on the spot.

“Yeah, it’s all good...” I nodded, “So! Where were we?”

 

Henry might have found it irritating but I, on the other hand, actively encouraged Lin being silly. My intention for the mood of my photos was for them to be fun, joyous and full of whimsy...to bring a smile to people’s faces. It _was Mary Poppins_ , after all.

More than anything, I wanted to capture some candid snapshots where he wasn’t posing...of those spontaneous bursts of laughter...those relaxed and genuine smiles which came often and naturally...not simply because he was told to do them.

This wasn’t exactly difficult because the guy looked as if he was having the time of his life, re-enacting signature moves from different musicals.

So to prompt this further, after a while, Lin and I started taking it in turn to fire corny jokes at one another. In fact, the cornier, the better...because they earned a dramatic groan, much eye rolling and then he’d begin laughing over how terrible the joke was. Which was kind of the point.

_That_ was when I’d start click, click, clicking away... Lin had a simply _magical_ smile which could illuminate this entire city and I really wanted to capture that wonderful energy which radiated from him like sunshine.

Even over the stupidest jokes ever which were so bad, they were funny...at least, that was the whole idea. Yet the way Lin fell about, reacting like they were the most hilarious things he’d ever heard, was so contagious, it had _me_ cracking up so much, I couldn’t actually take a photo...

I tried to convince myself I wanted him to laugh purely for photogenic purposes... _not_ because I loved hearing the sound of his laughter.

And definitely _not_ because the sight of him laughing his head off gave me that lovely, warm, fuzzy feeling inside yet again...

No...no, that wasn’t the reason at all.

Definitely not.

Nope.

 

~*~

 

_A/N:_

_Trip a Little Light Fantastic is probably my absolute favourite part in Mary Poppins Returns, I remember getting actual goosebumps the first time I heard it!_

_The Singin’ in the Rain photo idea was inspired by the SNL portraits Lin did but also other existing photos of him where he’s posing on lamps and studio lights as well, like the ones for Vanity Fair and Hollywood Reporter. But tbh there are so many amazing pics of him, I’m kind of spoiled for choice! Hope you liked this chapter, loves! The next one is all finished so I’m just going to go right ahead and post that one too! <3_

 


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

 

 

Finally, and somewhat to my disappointment, we reached our last stop of the shoot: London Zoo.

As promised, the Zoo had closed off their penguin pool temporarily in order for us to use it.

The penguins were the most _adorable_ things ever and so much fun to watch!

It was almost impossible to tell which of us on this shoot was more excited about them. It was hard _not_ to feel happy while hanging out with these flappy, waddling little dudes. Even our stern-faced bodyguard couldn’t resist cracking a smile at the sight of them.

They weren’t in the least shy; they were friendly and full of curiosity, coming right up close to my camera to peer with fascination at the lens. They flocked around us on this little makeshift beach area, like mini James Bonds in their tuxedos...awkward-looking on land but all sleekness and grace while swimming in the water.

However, as tempting as it was, we couldn’t spend the _whole_ time just playing with penguins. I had a job to do. But I quickly discovered it wasn’t going to be as easy as all that.

As freaking cute as the penguins were, they weren’t always the most _cooperative_ of models, to put it mildly...

They would peck at the camera...or take a poop right in the middle of the frame, therefore ruining the shot and the whole whimsical impact I was aiming for. Sometimes just at the moment I attempted to take a photo, they would dive into the water at the _very_ last second...or simply just waddle off out of the picture completely.

But as I knew in my experience when photographing animals, you needed to have the patience of a saint! _You_ had to wait for _them_. It was no good forcing them to do things they didn’t want to.

One of the keepers, fortunately, were on hand to kindly help us out. Armed at the ready with a bucket of fish, she tried distracting our new little friends and gently persuade them to stand in certain places and look in the right directions.

I crouched down at ground level, getting myself as low as possible, taking picture after picture at different angles where I could of Lin in a variety of improvised poses with a cane; standing in a line with a few penguins, one foot raised off the ground, arms held aloft, making it appear as though he really was doing some kind of tap dance routine with the birds.

 _Eventually_...after much giggling and resigned sighing over my not-so-helpful models...with a super fast shutter speed, and Lin being the absolute dream he was, our patience and teamwork was rewarded and we finally succeeded in getting the pictures I needed.

I honestly could not have asked for a better subject than Lin, who was patience itself, and seemed determined to persevere and hang on in there for me to achieve the best shots.

“Think this one’s clearly a fan of yours,” I grinned, pointing at one penguin in particular which kept obsessively following Lin around like a tiny shadow. It didn’t seem to want to leave him alone.

With a grin, Lin lowered himself so that he was sat face to face with the fangirling penguin, and I immediately held up the camera, unable to resist this sheer abundance of cuteness. If my photos were agreed to be published, I was pretty certain the rest of the world wouldn’t object to this. Lin-Manuel Miranda with cute animals - a winning combination, no?

“Hey, little buddy...look at the camera, look at {Y/N}... Smile, my flappy friend, you’re famous now!”

 

A little while later, we decided to not to put the penguins through any more and our crew agreed to stop for a break, and I popped over to the Zoo’s restaurant to fetch a round of coffees for everyone.

Upon my return, I found Lin perched on a rock by the side of the penguin pool, his suit jacket discarded next to him. At first, I thought he was looking down at his phone but he wasn’t. For the first time during this whole shoot, he wasn’t being his energetic, buoyant self.

Once again, maybe it was just my knack of seeing things others missed...for though he was looking at the penguins, he wasn’t really seeing them. His eyes were unfocused, brows furrowed in a thoughtful expression, his mind clearly elsewhere and faraway...

But his countenance soon cleared and brightened as he turned his head at my approach.

“Coffee?” I offered, holding out one paper cup to him, “To make up for me biting your head off this morning when you were only trying to help...”

“Hey, that’s sweet of you but I already said I’d forgotten about that,” he told me, accepting the cup with a gratified smile, “You were stressing, I get it.”

I plonked myself down on a rock as well and took out my camera to gaze at its screen, looking back over the pictures I’d taken at the pool.

“Not just for that though,” I continued, “You said it was your fault that you made me late.”

I glanced up at him.

Was it just me or did the composer suddenly have that deer-caught-in-headlights look about him? I wasn’t being accusatory, merely curious. But as quickly as he looked that way, the moment passed by and I wondered if I had simply imagined it. Again.

“I figured you needed to catch a break,” Lin told me, sipping at his coffee, “I could see how important this day is for you, it’s obviously a big deal.”

“You’re not kidding...” I sighed, “My chance to prove myself and it had to be _today_ that I was late... I was so scared I was going to screw things up...”

“I can relate,” he agreed with a nod.

“You’re taking _Hamilton_ to Puerto Rico next...January, right?”

He exhaled this long, stagy nervous breath, “Yup! For three weeks,” and something in this response prompted me to ask with interest,

“Do you still get nervous, getting up on the stage?”

“Oh god, yeah!” he nodded fervently, “ _Every_ time. I feel like I’m gonna throw up... Every performance is really exciting and I can’t _wait_ to get back into that role again, especially for this...but it still scares the hell out of me...”

“Really? But you’re _amazing_ at what you do - ”

“Thank you - ”

“But haven’t you got an - oh, what is it called now...?” I drummed my fingers against my thigh as I tried to remember, “An egret or something?”

He snorted and cracked up laughing, almost spilling his coffee, “Think you mean EGOT,” he sniggered.

“Yeah, that’s the one!”

“No, I’m not an EGOT, but thanks, anyway!” he said, still laughing over what I had said, “ _Or_ an egret!”

“Oh...” I let out a laugh at my own ridiculousness, before continuing briskly, “Well, anyway - I really admire and have a lot of respect for you - well, _anyone_ who can get up and perform in front of loads of people like that, night after night, in those beautiful theatres.”

“It is definitely something... _really_ special...” Lin nodded.

He spoke calmly than before but those wonderful eyes of his were lit up with such liveliness and spirit as he continued,

“That adrenaline rush... to feel the sheer electricity of it all...the crowd.... Like, don’t get me wrong,” he hastily added, “getting the chance to work on movies like _Mary Poppins_ is _incredible_ , it really is... I learned _so_ much while I was there...but there’s _nothing_ like working off a live audience. The atmosphere is just...” he trailed off with an emotive sigh, gesturing with his hands as if no word large or sufficient enough could describe it,

“...To be there in the auditorium where people come to laugh...to cry...to share the experience together, this unexplainable magic. I almost can’t put it into words... There’s nothing in the world like it, makes me feel _alive_...”

A smile had been working its way across my face as I was listening to Lin speak.

That warm, fuzzy feeling threatened to engulf me yet again as I couldn’t help but be moved by his obvious love, passion and adoration for the theatre, sprinkled with that underlying emotion of bringing his sensational show to his homeland to raise funds...something that was clearly so close to his heart. This was a man who was clearly living his wildest dreams.

And _not_ that I would even think of trying to compare what I did to his incredible achievements, but I _definitely_ understood how it felt to be so passionate about your work...that it consumed every fibre of your being, to pour all of your heart and soul into it, and to still be so head over heels in love with what you did.

“Must be incredible,” I murmured.

“It’s _magical_...” he nodded, his tone quiet, almost bordering on reverence. He was smiling again from ear to ear...but it was a different sort of smile this time. After a slight pause, he then quirked a curious brow at me and asked, “Never wanted to try it yourself? To be on the stage, I mean?”

I shook my head vigorously.

“Nooope! I _do_ like singing though,” I confessed, “just not in front of other people. I’ll leave that to your good self! Prefer being _behind_ the camera, thank you very much!”

“Fair enough!” he chirped.

He nudged himself along the rock so that he was sitting directly beside me. My heartbeat ratcheted up a few notches at this sudden close proximity. Not that I was uncomfortable about it. Quite the opposite, in fact...

“Can I see?” He pointed eagerly towards the camera, “Is...that okay?” he added slowly when he saw me hesitate.

I bit my lip. I know this might have sounded silly but I was _very_ protective of my camera. It was my baby...my pride and joy, and I didn’t normally allow anyone else to touch it. And if you were clumsy, forget it - you weren’t even allowed in the same _room!_ Alright, I might be exaggerating a smidge but the point was, my camera was so much more than a tool to me. It was as much apart of me as breathing was. I simply didn’t feel _right_ without it.

But for some reason... I knew I could trust him. Which I found strange seeing as my trust was not something I gave that easily. And I’d only met him this morning...

Was it _really_ only this morning? It honestly didn’t feel that way...

“Yeah, sure,” I nodded, trying very hard to ignore the tingling goosebumps that danced up my arm when Lin’s fingers brushed mine as I passed him the DSLR.

I nearly blurted out for him to be careful but there was really no need; Lin seemed to sense that I hadn’t done this lightly and was handling the camera with the utmost care and gentleness as if he was holding a newborn kitten.

I glanced sideways at him as he looked at the pictures, trying to gauge his reaction.

It was always a very special moment for me whenever I revealed my photos to a client of mine, the way their eyes lit up or misted over with emotion as they looked at their wedding photos for the very first time. It always filled me with pride to know someone had placed their wholehearted trust in me to capture their special day. But still, there was always this lurking fear deep in the back of my mind that my work might disappoint and not be good enough.

This may have been somewhat different but I still hoped beyond hope that Lin would approve. 

Lin was quiet, his expression unfathomable. Oh no, what if he hated them? But then -

“These are...awesome!”

My head shot up to stare at him.

“You like them? Really? They’ll look better once they’re edited and I’ve tweaked them around a bit,” my voice full of hope before adding anxiously, “Hey, you’re not just saying that, are you? I want you to be honest ‘cause I value your opinion.”

He glanced up from the camera screen to look up at me.

“Aw...really?” he said softly.

He sounded quite touched by what I’d said.

“Yes,” I nodded, dropping my gaze a little as I felt my cheeks reddening.

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it. I think they’re amazing,” he told me, his smile warm and genuine.

“Well, they _are_ of _you_ ,” I said jokingly.

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly, “You _know_ what I mean. I was right before...you've really got a gift..and it’s totally obvious how dedicated you are. I mean, I don’t claim to know much about photography but...what you do is an art too. It kinda _is_ like - like music in a way...”

“How?” I enquired, quirking an eyebrow. 

“I mean, it does things to our brains and our hearts that words alone don’t...”

I had never thought of it in that way before... Well, that did it. I could die happy now. Lin-Manuel Miranda liked _my_ work. Oh god, I could have cried! What could possibly top that?

Fighting back both the urge to cry and to hug this man, I said, “That’s what I’m always aiming for in my work,” I nodded enthusiastically, “to create pictures that can narrate a story from within a frame...I always hope that when you look at them, they... make you feel like you’ve been transported into some sort of dream...” I finished with a shrug.

“You definitely nailed that! You’ve done a great job!” he beamed, holding up his hand for a high five, to which I happily obliged.

“Aww, thanks! Let’s hope the editor, Claudia agrees with you. If I don’t deliver and she says no, I can kiss goodbye to my job at the magazine which means all the work I’ve done these last few months to get here would’ve been for nothing.”

I let out a laboured sigh and I saw the smile fade a little from Lin’s face.

“Don’t be so tough on yourself,” he said, his tone soft and heartfelt, as he handed me back my camera, “Nobody died today, did they? C’mon - ” He gave me a friendly nudge with his shoulder, the corner of his mouth quirked up in a lopsided smile, which in turn made me smile as well, “ - you gotta give yourself a break... Now would these guys have you doing a shoot like this if they didn’t think you could handle it?”

“Probably not,” I admitted.

To lighten the mood again, I looked back down at my camera, clicked back to one I’d just taken and held it up so he could see the screen showing the picture of himself sitting face to face with that fangirling penguin.

“Aww, what a handsome gent.... Oh, hey, _you’re_ not looking so bad in this either!” I added teasingly.

In retaliation to this, Lin reached down a hand into the pool and playfully splashed a bit of water at me. I let out a gasp of mock outrage, then erupted into giggles and immediately splashed some back at him.

There was a shriek and Craig suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“No, no, nooo, watch the suit!” he cried, running over with his arms flapping like a demented pigeon, “You’ll ruin the suit!!”

The stylist grabbed up Lin’s discarded jacket from the rock and clutched the garment to him like it was his firstborn.

“This is not some rag, y’know, it’s _Armani_...” he said dramatically, “it needs to be treated with _respect!”_

“Sorry, Craig!”

“Sorry!”

Lin and I both chorused like a couple of naughty kids caught in wrongdoing, before glancing at one another and stifling snorts of laughter.

When Craig walked off, deciding it was safer to just confiscate the jacket altogether so that it was out of harm’s reach, a quiet fell between the pair of us for a few moments.

I set about cleaning dust off my lens with a cloth and carefully storing my SD cards back in their protective case. Lin seemed lost in thought for a time, jigging his leg up and down in a manner like he was psyching himself up for something.

“{Y/N}?” he spoke up eventually.

His voice was quiet again but also...dare I say it...a little nervous? 

I looked up at him, “Mm?”

“Listen...I was wondering - ”

But I was distracted when that same cheeky penguin from earlier (at least, I think it was the same one) decided to choose that _exact_ moment to snatch one of the SD cards that I’d been holding out of my hand.

“Oh, shit - no, no, no, little guy!” I gabbled, jumping to my feet, as the bird began to waddle off on its merry little way with the card in its beak, “You can’t have that! It’s not food!”

Oh, the joys of working with live animals. Did Sir David Attenborough put up with stuff like this? 

“No, no! _Please_ don’t eat it...” I begged, “The planet’s already being buggered up because of our plastic, I don’t want the poor thing to choke to death!”

Nor did I want to lose all those pictures I’d taken today!

Thankfully, the penguin decided it didn’t like the taste after all. It promptly spat the memory card back on the ground and shook its head as though in disgust.

I scurried over and quickly picked the card up. It seemed pretty unscathed...apart from the fact that it was now covered in fishy-smelling penguin saliva.

“Niiiice,” I said, wrinkling my nose and wiping it on my trousers, “Sorry, Lin...what were you saying?” I said, turning back to face him.

Lin, who had been shaking his head with amusement, looked as if he was trying his best not to laugh at the sight of me chasing after the penguin...then even more so, when the bird decided it would go and peck at Henry’s shoes instead.

But with Henry now back within earshot, he seemed reluctant to say what had been on his mind.

He only favoured me with a soft smile and said quietly, “Nothing. Doesn’t matter, it’ll keep.”

I gazed at him curiously even after he looked away. What had he been about to say?

 

~*~

_A/N:Aw, who can resist penguins?? While I’m trying to keep stuff original, I have sprinkled in a few lines that Lin has actually said in real life. For example, the line: music doing things to our hearts and brains that words alone don’t is an actual quote from the man himself. Anyway...hope you enjoyed, loves! Until next time <3_


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again, loves! Thanks so much for the kudos and for your lovely and encouraging comments, you guys are so sweet! Thank you for taking the precious time to do so , I really appreciate it! Hope you’re all doing great and hope you enjoy! <3

**Chapter Six**

 

 

Alas, it was time to call it a day.

The Zoo needed to close up and we were fast losing the light. Iron-grey clouds were looming ominously overhead as the shorter autumn day began to draw in; and even as our team began to tidy up after ourselves, I could hear a distant threatening rumble of thunder.

Shoulders slumping, I huffed out a great sigh of relief and removed the camera strap from around my neck. 

I had done it! I had got through my first ever celebrity shoot - and it hadn’t been a complete shambles! I hadn’t managed to kill anyone. Not even a penguin.

I was so happy that my pictures had turned out well! Even though I knew my job was far from over, I just hoped with all my heart that they would be enough...

I ventured into the visitor centre to pay the bathroom a visit, and then went traipsing round the admin offices to track down the Zoo’s director and thank him for being so kind enough for allowing us to use their pool as a location.

By the time I’d returned outside to the penguin enclosure about fifteen minutes later, it was to find Craig and the others gathering up our equipment. I went to help, and thanked the rest of the crew for all their efforts today. 

Craig bounded over to give me a congratulatory hug.  

“Yaaay! You did it, well done, babes! Mwah!” he squealed, air kissing me. 

“Well done, _you!”_ I grinned, happily returning the hug, “ _You_ were the one who made Lin look _so_ amazing!” I praised, and Craig pretended to preen. 

“D’aww, shucks, you make me blush! He did look _divine_ though, didn’t he? Lordy...leave me alone with him in that outfit and I’d climb that guy like a tree!”

“You are terrible! You’re a happily married man!” I laughed, giving him a shove in admonishment. 

“I’m only kidding, you know I have eyes for no one but my Gary... Hey, you should come out with me and Gaz for a cheeky beer tonight to celebrate!” he suggested, his lean arm draped friendlily across my shoulders. 

“Whoa, let’s not get ahead of ourselves...they haven’t agreed my pictures are even going to be used yet. And I’d love to but I can’t,” I added with an apologetic look. 

“Whyyyy??” Craig whined.

“Once I’ve reported back, I’m off home...gonna get cracking with getting these babies edited so they can be sent back to Claudia.” 

I patted my camera case in emphasis and Craig sighed dramatically.

“Pfft...party pooper! Girl, all you do is work, work, work! There _is_ more to life, y’know. It won’t kill you to give yourself some time off for once,” he chuckled. 

I only shrugged in reply. 

A day off? What even was that? Alright, I had to admit so maybe I was a teensy bit of a workaholic. There was nothing wrong in that, surely? And this was _really_ important to me; the sooner I got started on those photos, the better. 

“I’ll text you when I’m free,” I assured my friend.  

“Yeah, yeah, heard that one before,” Craig said with a roll of his eyes but it was spoken with affection, “You want a lift back?” he added, picking up the lights we’d just taken apart, ready to pack into his car.

“Yeah, that’d be great, thanks, I’ll be there in a sec...” I said as he headed in the direction of the Zoo’s car park. 

As I went to grab my bag, however, my eyes swept the area, seeking out a certain someone who was conspicuous by his absence. 

But Lin was nowhere to be seen... 

Wait...where was he?

“You did good today, {Y/N},” said a voice suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. 

Realising it was Henry of all people who had uttered this, I turned sharply to stare at him with confusion. I’m sorry, what? Doth mine ears deceive me?

“Uh, thanks... Hang on, did you just say something _nice_ to me?” I asked him, not sure I’d heard correctly. 

Had a tiny inkling of that Lin-Manuel Miranda sparkle managed to rub off on him after all?

“Don’t worry, I sure won’t be making a habit of it,” Henry said with his usual disdain. 

Ah. I spoke too soon. The optimistic part of me hoped that perhaps Henry was offering an olive branch but nope! Should’ve known it was too good to be true. 

“Have you lost something?” he then asked in a bored voice, noticing my distraction, as I continued to crane my neck and even stand up on tippy-toes to look around. 

“Yeah, our guest. I just wanted to say thank you to him,” I answered vaguely, “D’you know where he is?” 

“Why should you be thanking him? It’s _us_ who’s doing _him_ the favour by promoting his film.”

“It’s called good manners, Henry. A weird concept for you, I know,” I quipped. 

“Well, you’re too late anyway, he’s already gone,” Henry threw out.

_What?_

“ _Gone?_ ” I repeated in dismay, looking back round to stare at him. 

Henry was now looking extremely smug.

“Yep, while you were inside...took some selfies with the crew, then said he had to go somewhere for...something...I dunno, I wasn’t paying attention, to be honest,” he said without interest, shrugging on his coat.

My brows furrowed. 

“Just like that?” I wondered quietly, more to myself than him. 

“What did you expect?” the other man asked with the faintest trace of a sneer playing about his lips, before continuing in this awful mocking voice, “Aw, bless...did he tell you how much he liked your pretty pictures and you thought you’d be besties for life?” 

I frowned over at him, as he resumed his normal tone, “These celebs only think of themselves, they don’t really care about the likes of us mere mortals. Up their own arses, the lot of them. It’s all ‘me, me, look at me!’...”

I wasn’t even going to dignify this with an answer. Maybe it was true about some famous people but Lin never gave me that impression.

“You’re determined to spoil things for me today, aren’t you? You know what, Henry, this attitude of yours is getting old _really_ fast,” I told him. 

But that didn’t mean that I didn’t feel disappointment weigh heavily in my chest and even, to my bewilderment... _sadness_...that I had missed Lin go. Why did he leave so suddenly? He didn’t even hang around to say goodbye?

But I thought that he....? 

I emitted a sigh and shook my head, telling myself to get a grip and that I should not be so stupid to take it personally. He _was_ an insanely busy man, after all... 

“Yeah? Then how’s this?” Henry coldly shot, “It should’ve been _me_ who had this gig today, not _you_. I’m way more better experienced at this type of thing than you are and you know it... Face it, {Y/N}, you only got lucky today. You don’t really belong in all this up here in the big city...you won’t last five minutes. So why don’t you just piss off back to whatever dreary backwater you came from and leave the grown up stuff to those of us who actually know what they’re doing!” 

This bloke definitely fell under the category of people who deserved a high five. In the face. With a chair.

Unfortunately I didn’t have a chair handy, so I made do by glaring at him but otherwise trying my best not to let on how much his gibes had stung me.

“You finished?” I said, as I made to leave.

Henry pulled this face of mock contemplation, “Uh...yeah, think so. For _now_ , anyway...”

I jutted my jaw and turned to face him again. 

“And what the heck is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you know what they say... ‘Higher you climb, the harder you fall’...and I’m _really_ going to enjoy it when that day comes for you.”

His tone was light but if I didn’t know better, I could detect an underlying threat behind this statement. He was smiling at me. But it was an awful smile, the sort to make your stomach turn and feel queasy. Almost...wolfish.

I didn’t like it. Not one bit.

Without so much as another word or a backward glance, I turned my back on him and stalked off towards the car park.

What is it with the Henry’s of this world? Why do they get a kick out of being horrible and dragging others down all the time? It was just so...so... _boring_.

Well, I wasn’t going to let him of all people ruin this for me, no matter how much he tried to undermine me. I made a mental note to ask our agent to _never_ put Henry and I on the same assignment in future. If I had to clap eyes on him ever again, it would be too soon... 

~*~

Some time later, I stepped out of the Soul Magazine headquarters and into the now chilly London air. In the time I’d been inside the building, it had grown dark - well, as dark as it could get in the city.

I pulled my jacket tighter around me to guard against the dwindling temperature, just as more thunder growled overhead, much closer this time. As I set out onto the busy street with the vague notion of calling for a taxi, a light patter of raindrops began to speckle the pavement.

After navigating through a sea of emotions today, I felt drained and yet oddly it was a good feeling. I was absolutely _buzzing_ from the day’s events.

Believe it or not, I was an introvert and my self-confidence wasn’t exactly always the greatest. I really liked being around other people - it was part of the job - but I couldn’t pretend I didn’t find it pretty exhausting at times. I could only take so much before I needed to retreat and go recharge my batteries before facing the world once more.

But today _didn’t_ make me feel like that...

The thought of photographing somebody famous was understandably nerve-wrackingly scary... It can’t be easy for one’s self esteem to be around someone so ridiculously talented and gorgeous that it made you feel like a hobbit.

But it wasn’t like that with Lin... Not only had I really enjoyed being around him, what had taken me by surprise more than anything was just how comfortable I’d felt in his company. How his energy, his enthusiasm and warmth didn’t make me _want_ to dive for cover.

I’d found him surprisingly easy to talk to...he’d given my confidence a boost...helped inspire me to want to do better. I’d even trusted him enough with my camera. Now _that_ was no mean feat.

That man had definitely helped to spark the best in me today, and I felt truly blessed to have been given this chance to work with him. 

My legs and back were aching from standing up all day long and being crouched in awkward positions but my cheeks were aching because I hadn’t stopped smiling. And now that the shoot was over, I realised just how absolutely famished I was; I hadn’t eaten a thing all day, having been running on pure adrenaline.

No matter how things worked out, I couldn’t deny that this had been one of very best - if not _the_ best and most fun jobs I’d ever worked on.

Even so...

I heaved out a sigh, my breath rising before me in a misty cloud. I still wished I’d got the chance to say goodbye to -

“{Y/N}!” I heard somebody call out. 

I froze. I stopped dead in my tracks. I had no trouble whatsoever recognising _that_ voice...

I turned around, eyes wide with surprise. Sure enough, it was a certain Puerto Rican gentleman. 

He, too, had just exited the magazine headquarters and was now hurrying along the pavement...towards _me_. I saw he had changed back into his grey sweater and jeans. He dodged around other people but his long strides didn’t take him long to catch up.

His face blossomed into a relieved smile, “Great - thought I’d - missed you - !” he said in between breaths.

My heart was thumping at a million miles an hour but as he drew level with me, I returned his smile.

“Back so soon? Surprised you’re not sick of the sight of me by now,” I joked, before adding in a would-be casual voice, “I thought _you’d_ already gone?”

Lin’s startled eyes flew to mine.

“What? No, not _gone_ gone! I wouldn’t just take off without saying anything! I told them to tell you I was coming back - but that Henry guy said - ” He broke off to huff out an irritated sigh, “Never mind - doesn’t matter, I’ve caught you now - ”

He was gesturing wildly and talking at rapid speed, his words tumbling out in a rush while simultaneously trying to catch his breath from running, each gasp of air escaping in a fog.

“I just wanted to - go do something quickly. So then I came back here to change but then they said I’d already missed you, too, so - !”

“Lin?” I softly interrupted, cutting him off mid-ramble.

He looked at me, “Yeah?”

“ _Breathe_ ,” I reminded him in a whisper, thinking of how he’d told me to do the exact same thing when we first met. 

His face relaxed back into a smile.

“I know I get overexcited,” he laughed.

“No, really? Can’t say I noticed,” I gently teased with a chuckle of my own.

What I did notice, however, was that he was clutching a small plastic bag in his hand. But I watched him with bated breath, my mind reeling at the implication of what he was saying. Why was he running around trying to find me?

“But I can’t stay long - I need to be somewhere,” he still spoke quickly, “I just wanted to give you - ”

The rest of his sentence was drowned out by an even louder crash of thunder which reverberated above, causing the pair of us to glance skywards as the rain began to absolutely bucket down.

Lin gently tugged at my elbow, manoeuvring us both under the shelter of a nearby entranceway to an office block to save us both from getting drenched. But I had barely time to acknowledge this chivalrous act, as he continued,

“I want you to have this...”

It definitely wasn’t my imagination this time. He was rocking on his heels, seeming nervous again. It surprised me, to think someone like him felt nervous around someone like me.

“ ...just a little something for you before I go.”

And he held out the carrier bag towards me.

_Say what now?_

I blinked.

“F-for me?” I stammered as I took the bag from him, questions exploding in my head like confused fireworks.

“To say congrats on your first big shoot and a super big thank you from me for making it fun!” he explained happily.

My mouth parted but no words came out. I was stunned into silence. My heart pounded so loudly in my chest, it was small wonder he couldn’t hear it as well in this narrow space we were now standing in.

As a wedding photographer, it wasn’t unheard of for newlyweds to give a token of their appreciation for the work I’d done. It always made me happy to know that I wasn’t merely seen as the anonymous person blending in with the other guests clicking away; but somebody who poured in a lot of hard work, love and soul in immortalising the happiest day of their life, wanting it to be as special as I could for them. 

I never expected it but it was always appreciated...whether it was something as simple as a tip, a shout out during the speeches or on social media. Or maybe something a little more personal. Didn’t really matter what it was, to be honest.

Finding my voice again, “You-you really didn’t have to give me anything - ” I began to stutter in protest but Lin overrode me.

“I know I didn’t but I wanted to!” 

But he’d given me so much already...more than even I realised at the time. I considered myself so unbelievably lucky to be given this _incredible_ opportunity to work and spend time with Lin today. It was an amazing reward in itself. But this?

A lump rose in my throat and I could feel my eyes begin to water. God, what a sentimental sap I was! Why was I getting so emotional? 

His expression fell slightly, brows scrunched with concern.

“Have I done something wrong?” he asked in a worried voice, mistaking my silence.

“No, no! You really haven’t!” I quickly assured him, blinking fast, “I just wasn’t expecting...” I trailed off.

Utterly gobsmacked, I stared at the bag in my hands and shook my head in numb disbelief. I was so touched by his gesture, words failed me. 

“I...I-I don’t know what to say, Lin... thank you so much!”

His eyes glinted in amusement.

“Are you gonna open it or just stand there stuttering at it?” he quipped, “Go on!” he urged, eagerly drumming his hands against his thighs, bouncing with enthusiasm again.

As I opened the bag with curiosity, I couldn’t help but grin at his puppy-like inability of staying still. It was endearing.

The flat box told me right away it was a CD. I flipped it over to look at its cover and gave a gasp, followed by a delighted little laugh. It was the _Mary Poppins Returns_ soundtrack!

“Oh my god...but wait...this - has this even been released yet?”

“Nope!” Lin answered brightly, popping the ‘p’ as he said it, “But I _might_ have remembered a certain somebody mentioning how much they adored _Mary Poppins_...so I _might_ have pulled a few strings... but hey, I won’t tell anyone if you won’t!” he added in a playful whisper, giving me a wink.

“Yeah, I know, I know - shameless self-promotion, I admit,” he continued, holding up his hands as if in surrender, “but considering the shoot, I thought it was appropriate,” he shrugged, “And I saw your face earlier when I was talking about the movie. I feel really proud to be part of it all.”

Well, how could I say no to this?

Knowing that he’d gone to the trouble to get me this, to say no would be churlish - not to mention downright bloody ungrateful.

“Well, when you put it like that, how can a girl refuse? I _love_ it, thank you!” I grinned at him, hugging the CD to my chest as though it was a priceless treasure. Which to me, it was. 

“My pleasure!” he chirped, seeming extremely pleased by my reaction to his gift.

“Hey, good luck with it all though, I can’t _wait_ to see the film! I’m so excited for it! Oh - and I wish you all the luck in the world with the show in Puerto Rico, too,” I added warmly, “I can see how much it means to you...”

“Aw...I really do appreciate that,” he said, a warm sincerity in his own voice which told me this was no empty platitude, “And sure hope everything works out for _you_ , I’ll be keeping my eye out when your photos are published, for sure,” he promised.

“ _If_ they’re published...”

“You got this! You gonna knock ‘em out!” he encouraged, “Listen, you,” turning to me fully, “Don’t let _anyone_ make you think you’re not capable of tremendous things, okay? If those guys at the magazine can’t see how awesome you are at your job, well, it’s _their_ loss!”

Once again, he rendered me speechless.

What an absolute sweetheart this man was! What on earth did the world do to deserve him? What did _I_ do? In all my life, I had never met anyone who could make me feel quite so special through kind gestures the way he did. The way he was looking at me, it made me feel like I was only woman in the world who existed.

“And there was me thinking today was going to be a disaster,” I said in quiet wonder.

The corner of his mouth quirked up, "So working with me hasn’t totally put you off doing celebrity shoots, then?” he joked.

“Definitely not!” I shook my head, “Today’s sure going to take some beating though.”

“See? Told you it was gonna turn out a lot better for you, didn’t I?” he said, reminding me of what he’d said after the pair of us collided into one another that morning. 

“Maybe you’re my good luck charm,” I murmured.

An emotion I couldn’t decipher flickered in those shining brown eyes. But I didn’t give myself time to try. I dropped my gaze, highly grateful it was dark because I was pretty sure my cheeks were turning pink for being so cheesy.

But it _was_ actually kind of true. From the minute I’d woken up, it had felt like the universe had been conspiring against me by making everything go wrong. Yet after bumping into Lin, things had turned out so much better than I could have dreamed of (well, apart from Henry).

Looking back up at him, “Thank you _so_ much - not just for the CD but for _everything_.”

“Aww, well, thank _you!_ It’s been fun! Despite your terrible jokes,” he added teasingly, eyes twinkling.

That wonderful smile dimpling his cheeks filled me with such warm and fluttery sensations in my stomach. The dark clouds which had shrouded my self esteem caused by Henry’s hurtful taunts and then along came Lin like a beaming ray of sunlight, breaking through those clouds and banishing them away.

I opened my mouth but changed my mind. Lin inclined his head to one side, looking at me curiously.

“What?”

“Nothing,” I murmured, with a shake of my head.

“You were gonna say something,” he gently prompted.

Instead, I stretched out my hand into the narrow space between us.

“It’s been truly... _amazing_ to work with you,” I said with sincerity. 

It had been so much more than that. But at that moment in time, I couldn’t find another word sufficient enough.

Lin’s hand slid against mine and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Likewise,” he answered softly.

There was a slight awkward hovering on my part. A _handshake_ did not seem anywhere near enough to express my happiness and gratitude somehow. 

But then - I wasn’t even aware of deciding to - I mustered up my courage to do it quickly before it failed, or he’d be gone for good and I’d never get the chance again...

I went right ahead and gave him a friendly hug.

There was like a millisecond where I felt him freeze in surprise but then he immediately reciprocated.

My breath caught in my throat as his hands came to rest on my back, enveloping me in his soft and warm embrace. I could feel his heart against my chest, thundering in rhythm with my own. Everything else seemed to cease to exist for a time...not the traffic, not the to-ing and fro-ings of city folk, not the rain hammering upon the ground, none of it.

All I was aware of was Lin and the feeling of his arms wrapped around me. It must have lasted for only a few seconds but for all I knew, it could have been several heavenly days...

I was disappointed and felt an enormous sense of loss when he slowly disentangled himself from me and let go. I wished I had more time to bask in his energy and warmth.

_Now, stop it...no good thinking like that._.. a voice in my head berated. This was still meant to be purely a professional interaction, I had to remember that.

So why did I feel so lightheaded? And I was pretty certain it had absolutely nothing to do with my empty stomach either...

Reality reared its ugly head, bringing me back down to earth with a bump. He was a super renowned Broadway genius, admired and adored by millions...and I was just the photographer. Nothing more, nothing less.

I drew back, fighting to remember how to breathe and will my galloping heart to calm down.

“Well! These pictures are not going to edit themselves!” I rambled, “Got loads more work to do!”

“I know the feeling,” Lin agreed, nodding, before his eyes widened, “Oh god, speaking of which - ” He flipped his wrist over to slide a glance at his watch and grimaced, “ _Shit_ , now I’ve _really_ got to run!” 

The rain had now thankfully eased as he stepped out from underneath our shelter and onto the pavement.

“I’d better get going - ” he said quickly, but he sounded almost regretful about it.

“Yeah, ‘course, you go...don’t let me make _you_ late and all!”

“It was really great to meet you, {Y/N}! Good luck!” he called to me, walking backwards as he spoke and giving me a double thumbs up, “And _really_ hope you like the CD!” 

He seemed to place strong emphasis on those last parting words.

“Bye! You too! And thank you - again!!” I just had time to call back as I watched him give a final wave, turn and go.

He went hurrying along with a spring in his step, until he was swallowed up by the crowd of commuters and the rain, making his way to a car that was hovering at the nearby curb, waiting to pick him up.

Before I knew it, he had disappeared out of sight...and he was gone.

My heart was as light as a feather. I remained standing there for a while, gazing at the soundtrack in my hand, still stunned by what just occurred. Then, the huge smile never once leaving my face, I stowed it safely into my bag and finally turned for home. 

Sweetest. Man. Ever.

~*~

I rented a place right on the very top floor, where the attic had been converted into a small but quirky flat. Most people would call it poky. I preferred...cosy. 

Letting myself into the humble little abode, still floating on cloud nine, I was immediately welcomed with a loud mewing from down at my ankles.

“Hey, Luna, baby,” I greeted in a soft coo, making kissing noises to my cat, “How’s my little soot sprite?”

Luna meowed as she wound herself around my legs, purring away. Her huge eyes and tufts of black fur really did make her look like one of those Ghibli dust bunnies.

Depositing my bag onto a nearby chair, I scooped her up, nuzzling my face against her fluffy fur.

“What...a...day...! Wait til you hear what happened, Luna!” I told her in an excited squeak.

But, as ever, Luna did not show the slightest whiff of interest nor have anything constructive to say.With a sassy flick of her tail, she put an end to our cuddle and padded away across the floor, now ignoring me completely. Fickle little madam.

“Rude... Try not to show _too_ much enthusiasm, will you?” I chuckled.

I looked around my silent flat. Part of me wished I had taken Craig up on his offer to go out with him and his other half, Gary. What did he mean, anyway? I knew there was more to life than work.

So I didn’t have a boyfriend and definitely no husband. But I had Luna, even if she was currently blanking me. And a box of wine. And a whole queue of Netflix I wanted to catch up with.

Pushing these slightly depressing thoughts to one side, I tried to focus on the more positive.

I had _plenty_ of exciting ways to spend the evening besides work. I could...do my laundry. I could...take a bubble bath and finally try out those flowery bath bombs I had given to me. Oh wait - no, I couldn’t. The boiler was broken. Damn. Forgotten about that. The annoyances of this morning seemed such a long time ago now. And somehow not so very annoying any more. I was in far too much of a giddy mood to be truly annoyed about _anything_ at the moment.

Anyway, I had so many options! These weren’t boring options! Not lonely options! They were fun, exciting, awesome...

Okay, they were boring. And lonely.

With a resigned shrug, I hung my jacket up before heading into the tiny kitchen to rustle up something to eat.

 

Later on that evening, I was curled in front of my laptop in my PJs, munching on pizza and listening to the soothing thrum of rain upon the skylights. The drops trickled down the glass, smudging the twinkly lights of the outside world like a Monet painting.

I was snug as a bug sitting here tucked up in this little nook in the eaves, with nothing but the soft lullaby of raindrops and Luna snoozing at the end of my desk for company.

This corner was my makeshift office space for editing and tending to my business, and was easily the tidiest part of the room.

The rest was a cluttered array of books, mismatched furniture, books, potted plant babies, books, framed art prints and - yup, you guessed it - more books!

Confession time: I was a bit of a hoarder. I couldn’t help it.

I was a sentimental creature who liked to keep hold of programmes and tickets from the theatre, trains or museums. I hoarded meaningful little trinkets like some Tolkien-esque dragon in her nest... Birthday cards, snow globes, photos, scented candles, pins, vintage cameras, letters, hats (I _loved_ hats!). Oh, and mugs. Heck, you name it.

I loved to have memories of good things scattered all about me for no inherent use other than to make my heart happy...even though I was fast running out of surfaces to keep them all!

More than anything else, my shelves were crammed with seashells, pebbles and jars filled with sea glass...simple keepsakes from beach-combing adventures back at my old home.

As much as I liked it here in the city, there was a down side: I _really_ missed waking up to the sound of the sea and being able to jaunt off to the beach whenever I felt the whim.

To swap the rugged coast of Cornwall for the ‘Big Smoke’ as my dad would call it, wasn’t an easy choice to make. I loved my home dearly and it’d been a huge wrench for me to leave all that was safe and familiar. Yet couldn’t help but shake that feeling I wasn’t experiencing anything new or challenging.

And just think...if I hadn’t moved here, I would never have got this opportunity to meet somebody like Lin...

Sitting here amongst the normality of my flat, scrolling through the photos I had downloaded was mighty strange. It hardly seemed real. It was like looking at a set of postcards from a day in another person’s life, not mine.

Capturing these shots was only the half of it. A photographer probably spent more time staring intensely at a screen than anything else.

I leaned back in my chair and let out a noisy yawn, stretching my arms back and rolling my neck to ease the stiffness in my muscles from being sat in the same position for too long - the workaholic’s yoga.  

Rubbing at my neck, I surveyed my work...having spent the last few hours meticulously enhancing, adjusting exposure, retouching, softening or sharpening details where needed, cropping, deepening shadows...a careful tweak here and there...leaving no stone unturned. Any technical wizardry that was necessary in order to show off my handsome muse in the most flattering light possible. To transform a great photo into a _stunning_ one.

A task that was definitely not to be hurried. Sometimes I could hermit myself up here for days on end working on a project that I almost forgot what daylight looked like. 

But Big Chief Claudia said she wanted the _very_ best and this was my chance to prove to her what I could do. So the pressure was on! 

The sound of purring met my ears and Luna decided to plop herself in the least convenient spot possible - my laptop’s keyboard...her not so subtle way to get me to stop what I was doing and pay her some attention instead.

I squinted blearily at the clock in the corner of the screen.

Just gone midnight.

_Yikes_... I’d been working far longer than I realised.

“Okay, Luna, you might have a point,” I yawned, stroking her as she butted her head softly against my hand. 

I rubbed at my tired eyes. Exhaustion was beginning to set in and I knew poor productivity would follow. Now really was the time to call it a night. I would carry on tomorrow. If I screwed up and Claudia wasn’t happy, it was game over and all my work would be for nothing. In fact, the majority of these photos were probably never going to see the light of day. It sucked but there it was. So while I absolutely loved being a photographer, it wasn’t all roses.

Nudging Luna off my keyboard (much to her disgust), I peered back at the image that I’d been currently working on: of Lin standing on the steps outside the mighty St. Paul’s. This was probably one of my absolute favourites from the shoot.

If I said so myself, I felt pretty darn proud for just how beautifully this one had turned out. His stance, his expression, the outfit...it was definitely a picture to grab your attention. This _surely_ had to be one that the magazine would use.

Though perhaps it might be wise to put a warning with it! Lin looked positively swoon-worthy and so dapper in that jacket and waistcoat which hugged at his frame, it was almost sinful... the braces left hanging at his sides, pale golden sunlight playing softly upon his skin...though his face was turned towards the camera, that piercing chocolate gaze was shifted to his right and...

Oh my god, he was... _beautiful_. 

It should be illegal for one man to be so kind, talented _and_ handsome! Who allowed this?

With a deep breath, I mentally shook myself to stop from getting too distracted by my subject and concentrate upon the work...

Easier said than done.

I had composed the picture in such a way so the light was softer, the colours of his outfit more exaggerated, making them pop...and so it would make his long-lashed eyes really stand out...

Oh, those eyes... they were still capable of stealing my breath away so easily even in picture form. Methinks I might just have a minor obsession (minor? Who was I kidding?) with those gorgeous eyes of his...

Did I mention that I liked his eyes?

_Seriously, {Y/N}, get a grip!_  

I wasn’t going to forget today in a hurry that was for sure. Nor would I soon forget the absolute bliss I had felt at being in his arms, it had felt so right...the warmth of his body pressed against mine -

_Ahhhh!_

Nope, nope, _nope_.

I banged down the lid of my laptop shut with more force than was necessary. What on earth had this man done to me? I _really_ needed to pack that in...

There was absolutely _no_ reason I would see him again except through by means of a screen. And I was more than okay with that because I’d had today. What more could I ask for?

Little did I realise that the day’s surprises weren’t over yet...

My sleepy gaze fell upon the _Mary Poppins Returns_ soundtrack on the desk beside me. I picked it up, a smile unconsciously working its way across my face.

Now this was to be another meaningful object with a special memory attached to it, fitting in nicely with the rest of my dragon hoard aesthetic. This was so much more than just a CD to me. This was a special memento of a special shoot, gifted to me by a very special man...and I was going to cherish it _forever_.

I prised open the CD’s case, intending to look at the sleeve inside, when something lying flat on top of the disc fluttered out and onto the floor.

_Hello...what’s this now?_

I bent down and picked up a little slip of paper. Curious, I unfolded it...and my heart gave a jolt of shock.

Now I knew why Lin had said he hoped I liked this CD.

Scribbled across the paper was a series of numbers.

A series of numbers that could mean only one thing... 

A phone number.

 

~*~

 

_A/N: How blessed are we to exist in this world at the same time as Lin? So as you probably guessed, the photo shoot is only the beginning for these (you?) two. I’ve got plans for this story to coincide with other real life stuff, like his Hollywood star, the Mary Poppins Returns premiere etc, all the way up to the time where he goes to Puerto Rico for Hamilton. I thought it was only right to reference *that*photo of him again because holy moly it gets me every time!_

_Also, I feel I ought to say that there’ll be more mature content in further chapters. But I’ll put up another warning when we get to those parts in case that’s not your cup of tea!_

_I really hope you enjoyed this chapter loves, I had fun writing this one! Please let me know if you did! <3 :)_

_PS. Is anyone else hyped as me about seeing Lin in the new His Dark Materials series? I love those books so much and I screeched when I saw the trailer!! Fingers crossed it’ll be good!_

 


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo loveliest lovelies! I’m sorry this took me longer to post, I’ve had a lot of personal stuff going on and I haven’t had time to write or be online very much. But huge thank you’s for the amazing comments for the last chapter. I said at the start I’ve never written this kind of fanfic about a real person before and I admit I don’t find it easy. So to read all your amazingly kind words really means a lot to me! I’m sorry I didn’t respond to each of you individually at the time but please know I appreciate it and love you for being awesome readers! You guys are wonderful and keep me going so hope you enjoy this update! A word of warning, there is alcohol mentioned in this.  
> In the words of Mary Poppins herself, off we go!

**Chapter Seven**

 

If you had told me a week ago that Lin-Manuel Miranda was going to give _me_ his number, I would have laughed in your face. Or suggested you go seek medical help. Maybe both.

Either way, I would have never believed you in a million years. The very idea was absurd. Mind-boggling.

And yet here it was!

To say I had been shocked to see that little piece of paper would be the greatest understatement of the decade. An endless array of emotions swirled in my mind...buffeting around like a tiny boat caught in a turbulent sea.

I even wondered at one point whether somebody was pranking me, that this was all one big wind-up.

“What d’you reckon, Luna?” I murmured to my cat, who was sitting in her usual spot at the end of my desk.

As always in these one-sided conversations we had, Luna did not deign to share her opinion, only to sit there and judge me.

I had waited about a day before summoning the courage to message Lin. After all, he was a busy guy and I didn’t want to come across as pushy or overbearing...yet at the same time, I didn’t want him to think that I was rude by blatantly ignoring him either.

As I had entered his details into my contacts, part of me wondered how did I know if this was even his own personal number.

Well, I guess there was only one way to find out, wasn’t there?

 _Just chill your beans and stop overthinking things, alright?_ I told myself. 

I typed: _Good morning sunshine! Thanks so much again for the CD! ☂️🐧_

Keep it short and sweet for now.

About twenty minutes later, just I was getting started on the day’s editing, my phone chimed. I picked it up, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. 

 _What can I say except you’re welcome!_

Grinning, I replied with, _Oh see what you did there_

_L: Do you like it?_

_Y: It made me cry!_  

It was true. I had indeed been listening to the _Mary Poppins Returns_ soundtrack on a non-stop loop over the last couple of days. And I listened to it again. And again.

These songs were absolutely delightful! I could not stop smiling! Even though I had never heard this music before, there was this wonderful, comforting air of familiarity to it. It was clear this was meant as an affectionate love letter to the Sherman Brothers’ work in the original _Mary Poppins_ , a film I had adored since my childhood.

From Lin singing _Lovely London Sky_ in a questionable Cockney accent and yet still had this lovely, soothing quality...all the way to those little excerpts of _Let’s Go Fly a Kite_ woven into _Nowhere To Go But Up_....

Oh goodness me, these tracks were tugging at all my nostalgic heartstrings and sentimental little soul that I was, tears had indeed been shed.

My phone chimed again.

 _L: Aw shit, is my accent that bad? 😂 [laughing face with tears emoji]_

_Y: Honestly? Yes_  

I was only teasing him. See this was what I disliked about texting; it could be so easy to misinterpret someone’s tone and things to get super awkward. I much preferred being able to see or hear the person I was communicating with.

To my relief, he seemed to know that I was joking, for he answered with what I assumed (and hoped) was mock indignation.

_L:Bahaha_

_How dare you!_

_Worked very hard on that accent thank you!_  

Just in case, I hastily typed back, keys clicking away.

_I’m kidding, it’s adorable._

_I absolutely love the soundtrack! I’m going to treasure it til the day I die._  

Our texting had continued in this similar vein for a while more; him asking me what songs I liked best and what not. And so our conversation had continued meanderingly over the next couple of days. Sometimes he answered quickly; other times it took a long time but that was only because I knew that was down to his bonkers schedule and I, too, was busy with my own work.

By the time the next evening rolled around, Lin sent me:

 _L: Hope you didn’t mind me adding a bonus track?_

As though he feared I thought him presumptuous for giving me his number in the first place. 

_Y: Course not! Why, you don’t make a habit of giving photographers your number, do you?_

I grimaced and chewed at my bottom lip after I sent that message, hoping it came across as humorously as it was supposed to.

He was taking a long time to answer this...

I began to grow worried then. What if he _had_ mistaken my meaning? What if I had offended him, as if I was trying to imply that he did this on a regular basis - which I wasn’t at all! It was only teasing banter. At least I hoped it was!

My doorbell suddenly rang, distracting me.

After one last quick glance to see no reply from Lin still, I gave a little sigh, tucked my phone into my jeans pocket and went to answer the door. 

 

~*~

 

I leaned back against the sofa and took a sip from my wine glass, feeling light and pleasantly fuzzy.

Sat beside and across from me, were my two best friends, having a...deeply _riveting_ debate about whether leggings should be considered trousers.

I was staying well out of it. I was hardly what you would call an expert when it came to fashion. I had a personal criteria for clothing that went something like this...

One: must be comfy.

Two: must be comfy.

Three: must be comfy. 

“I’m a vet,” Maddie was now saying loftily, “I have a PhD.”

She lifted both her chin and her wine glass as if that settled the matter.

I let out a laugh as the other, Tessa responded, “Just ‘cause you’re a vet, that doesn’t make you right - or smarter than me. I’ve raised three-year old twins and we’re all still alive. A little bit of credit where it’s due please!”

“Here’s to making it out alive!” I laughed, raising an arm to clink glasses with the others.

With our bellies full of fettuccine and a teensy bit on the tipsy side, I was having a great night in with my two friends. We didn’t get together as often as we liked to these days. What with our busy adulting lifestyles and us living in different parts of the country, it could be weeks and even months between seeing one another. But when we did, it was like we had never been apart, and there was sure to be alcohol, food and a lot of laughing to be had.

“We’re just gonna have to agree to disagree with the whole leggings debate then,” Tessa conceded with a smile, her mossy green eyes glinting.

Maddie nodded, reaching over to grab a handful of Doritos from my coffee table.

“Don’t even wear leggings anyway, not with these hips,” I said, wrinkling my nose.

It was true that while my job as a photographer kept me on my feet a lot, I hadn’t been maintaining such a regular exercise regime in recent months and it really showed. I went swimming at the nearest lido here in London during the past summer and I suppose my figure wasn’t _terrible_ but I had definitely gained a few extra pounds of ‘fluff’.

“Don’t be daft, {Y/N}, you’ve got great hips,” Maddie told me, cheekily thwacking me on said body part, “They’re birthin’ hips, they are,” she grinned, “Least you’re not a string bean like me,” she added with a huff, gesturing to herself, “I’d kill for some curves. You’re like a petite - ”

“Linebacker?” I joked, and Tessa let out a cackle, despite herself, before holding up a hand.

“Okay, enough of the body-bashing, people!” she cut in.

“Sorry, you’re right,” I nodded quickly.

I loved these two women and I wouldn’t swap them for anything. We had known one another for most of our lives. We’d been through it all together...middle school, those crazy, stress-filled high school years, before going our slightly separate ways for college or uni. And now that we’d reached the craziness of adulthood...jobs, spouses and in Tessa’s case, babies.

We were at the point in our friendship where our conversations veered somewhere between self-deprecating and sarcasm to heartfelt honesty.

Tessa had married her high school sweetheart, (in fact, it was me who had photographed their wedding) and was now the mother of adorable little twins and a French bulldog, living just outside of London. Yet still managed to juggle her job as a drama teacher _and_ keep her home pristine and Pinterest-worthy.

She was also the ‘mum friend’ in our little group. Always super organised, always protective of us all, always the one to turn to in a crisis. Despite outward appearances, however, she could curse like a sailor, had a wicked sense of humour (especially when she’d had a few!) with red hair kept short in a boyish pixie cut and a personality bubblier than a bottle of Prosecco.

As for Maddie, she was a veterinary student and the most level-headed of our trio. Like me, she didn’t have children or a significant other. At least, not a permanent one. She flitted from one relationship to another but insisted she had no intentions of settling down just yet - not until the right woman came along. Preferably Margot Robbie.

She may have called herself a ‘string bean’ but Madeline was the tallest out of the three of us, almost whippet-like in stature; and waist-length blonde hair with a shiny sleekness my own hair could only ever dream of achieving.

Her calm and compassionate nature made her ideal for her job. She was the only one who remained living and working in Cornwall, but she had managed to wangle some time off and hop on a train up here to London to visit.

And then there was me... The artistic one. The outdoors-y one. The hopeless romantic with notoriously bad luck with men. If my head wasn’t dreaming in the clouds, then it was permanently stuck to a screen, be it camera or computer.

 

A text alert suddenly chimed on my phone. I glanced down to see that a certain somebody had finally answered me with:

_L: Only to the ones who knock me out with their beautiful smile..._

My eyes widened and felt myself flush. I sat there, stunned by Lin’s words. I wasn’t expecting _that_ answer! I was very relieved to know I hadn’t offended him after all but did he just...?

How on earth was I supposed to respond to that? But he soon saved me the trouble as another text swooped up with the rest of the message...

 _... and tell me what lovely eyes I’ve got!_

I snorted out a laugh. He had sent me a picture of himself pulling a stupid dorky face with his eyes crossed. Lovely eyes indeed!

However, I never got the chance to reply when Tessa’s voice called in a sing-songy, “Hellooo? Earth to Planet {Y/N}!”

I looked up to see my friend had apparently been talking to me and I hadn’t even realised. I was too caught up by Lin’s message.

“Hm? Sorry, what?” I blinked.

“You have really been away with the fairies,” Maddie observed, “More than usual, I mean. Anything we should know about? Or any _one?_ ” she teased, peering keenly at me through her black-rimmed glasses.

“Nope!” I told her firmly, popping the ‘p’ as I said it and shoving my phone back into my pocket, “I’ve already told you, I’ve given up on all that.”

“Oh, bollocks,” Tessa said dismissively over this defeatist attitude.

“Awww no!” said Maddie, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder, “Don’t go labelling yourself the lonely cat lady just yet, sweetie. Didn’t you ever go out with that plumber again? What happened with him?”

I huffed out a long breath, feeling heat creep up my neck at the memory of that particular event and took a long swig of wine.

“Don’t ask,” I muttered.

“Why, what happened?” Tessa immediately asked, “Was he terrible at...laying the pipe?”

She quirked an eyebrow and snickered into her own glass, earning a frown and shake of the head from Maddie in mock disappointment and a soft giggle from me. She would get along very well with Craig.

“We never got that far. He was really nice...had a good job and everything. But then on our last date, I got super nervous, and I told him how I’d like to have a dog farm one day. Not like, those horrible puppy farming places, _god_ ,” I hastily amended, shaking my head in disgust, “I mean...somewhere in the countryside with a bunch of adorable dogs running around? And I was mostly joking when I told him this...but once I started, I couldn’t stop. And then somehow, we ended up talking about marriage and children and - and the one-child policy in China and - ” I rambled out in one long agitated sentence.

“Oh god,” Tessa groaned under her breath, gently pinching at the bridge of her nose as Maddie blinked bemusedly at me.

“I got nervous! And I’d had two margaritas. Well, what else are you supposed to talk about two margaritas in?” I laughed, burying my face against my hands, “Needless to say, I never heard from him again.”

I let out a laugh because what else could I do?

“I would pay such good money to have been a fly on that wall,” Maddie said, shaking her head, “You are hopeless. What have I told you about bringing up China’s population planning policy on first dates, honey?” she teased, patting my head as though I was a simple child.

Well, at a petite five foot two, I was easily the shortest in our group so they would sometimes jokingly refer to me as their kid sister.

Nothing brought me more joy than to be able to capture and document the love that was shared between two people. It warmed my heart to tell somebody’s unique love story by means of pictures, for them to smile and reminisce over in years to come when they were old and gummy.

I was a big old softie at heart. I believed in love, of course I did. I would be in totally the wrong job if I didn’t. Love was beautiful...the greatest of all things and it deserved to be captured candidly and with honesty. 

But when it came to my own love life?

The truth was I simply wasn’t good at dating. I wasn’t good at playing the games or being that smooth, cool, confident girl. It just wasn’t...me.

My dating history wasn’t exactly wonderful. I had been in love once. And he led me to believe that he had loved me in return...or perhaps he did in his own half-baked way.

His name was Ryan. He was a surfer, drawn together by our mutual love and fascination for the ocean. At the start, it had been wonderful. Amazing, even. The sex was everything sex should be. He was free-spirited, romantic, patient, _extremely_ easy on the eye... Yes, I definitely thought I had won the boyfriend lottery with that one...

...until I discovered he was sleeping around with someone else and had been feeding me a pack of lies.

He mewed out all kinds of excuses as old as the sun. He didn’t mean to hurt me. It was just sex, it didn’t mean anything. It was nothing serious...was he talking about me or her? That it didn’t matter. Well, it mattered very much to me. It meant _everything_ to me.

I had cried until I had no strength left to cry. Not only for the fact that Ryan had shattered my trust and snuffed out our relationship until it was starved of oxygen but he also left me feeling very, _very_ stupid. How did I not see the signs? Usually, I took great pride in being able to spot the little details others missed and yet I hadn’t seen _that_ coming.

It had once been said by a remarkably clever lady author that friendship was certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love - and she was right. 

In true mama bear style, Tessa swooped in to help mop up the tears and pick up the pieces; while Maddie ranted that ‘men were trash’ and blithely suggested she put her medical training to good use and arrange to have the guy castrated.

That had been just over a year ago, back before I had moved here to London. Since then, I had tried dipping my toes into those treacherous waters of the dating world again but I only seemed to get them bitten by sharks.

Before the plumber, I had agreed to meet up with a guy on a blind date. Never again!

The date - if you could even call it that - barely lasted ten minutes. Upon learning what I did for a living, he asked if I was willing to let him have some nude shots. Gross. I was out of the door faster than you could say ‘creep’.

After this string of failures, it was so easy to let self doubt and setbacks creep into your head. And Ryan...oh, how had _he_ been a setback.

I knew that being in a relationship didn’t define a person but surely I deserved one like those I photographed? One that was open and honest...something real...because what I had with Ryan sure as heck wasn’t real. Something which made me feel better about myself, not worse.

 

I shook my head, not wishing to continue with this unpleasant stroll down memory lane.

Wanting to steer the conversation from my embarrassing love life, I playfully swatted away Maddie’s hand.

“Can we please change the subject?” I said with a laugh, “One that doesn’t involve my complete and utter lack of social skills and how much I suck at the whole dating shebang?”

Tessa set her glass down.

“Okay, sweetie, I’ll throw you a bone - seeing as the plumber didn’t!”

She threw me cheesy finger guns, waiting for me to laugh at her joke. I shot her a mock glare but then grinned.

“Let’s talk about the fact that you lost your celebrity photo shoot virginity to none other than _Lin-Manuel Miranda!!_ ” 

She let out a joyful squeak and then sprang up from the sofa to commandeer the iPod.

I lowered my gaze slightly, hoping the redness of my cheeks was due to the drink rather than her choice of words.

“No, _please_ , no...” Maddie begged, throwing her head back with a half-hearted groan as sure enough, the opening notes of _Alexander Hamilton_ filtered from the device, “You’ve already made me listen to _Les Mis_ and _Mamma Mia_ tonight, for god’s sake. Haven’t I suffered enough?”

“Don’t be such a spoilsport, Mads,” Tessa told her, “I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation here. Our girl got to photograph this - ” She jabbed a polished finger at the iPod and gushed, “this delightful man angel!”

As Tessa launched into her own one-woman _Hamilton_ production, Maddie shook her head and playfully rolled her eyes, popping another Dorito into her mouth. She certainly did _not_ share in our fondness for musicals.

It was almost a week since the day of the photo shoot. Naturally my friends had wasted no time in demanding to know who it was that had been under the scrutiny of my camera lens.

But I had failed to mention to them that Lin had given me a CD...containing his _number_...

It wasn’t because I didn’t trust them or was embarrassed about it - far from it. I loved my friends with all my heart and I knew they meant well. I _would_ tell them about it, just...not yet.

This was something I wanted to savour for a little while. After all, _I_ could barely wrap my head around it, let alone share it with anyone else yet! Having others’ opinions tossed into the mix would just confuse things even more for me. So for the time being, I decided to keep things quiet.

I wanted to tread carefully with this. I felt it was something to be treated with the care and respect it deserved...not gossiped and giggled over like schoolgirls passing notes in class. No...this was between me and him for the time being. Considering my track record when it came to men, I didn’t want to jinx things...

Tessa now returned to her spot on the sofa.

“Will you let us have a cheeky little preview?” she wheedled, clasping her hands together in a pleading way. At my slight hesitation, she pressed, “Oh, go on...me and Mads will be like your guinea pigs!”

Unable to resist, I ventured over to my desk in the corner and took out a folder filled with a selection of prints I had made. After flicking through, I chose a couple I had taken of Lin down by the Thames.

In one shot, he was in front of one of the lampposts, holding the umbrella so that it was rested upon his shoulder, frozen in the action of jumping up and clicking his heels together.

As I planned, I had edited it into a black and white shot to give it this vintage Hollywood vibe, and if I said so myself, it looked really cool.

In the other photo, it was a close up of his face, half in shadow, hat slanted sexily at an angle... I couldn’t help but vividly recall that moment when I had tugged his hat down...the shivers which had coursed through me when his gorgeous eyes had locked with my own...when I’d blurted out to him how lovely those eyes were. Stood in this pose, it showed off his side profile and really accentuated his jawline and -

 _Okay, stop with that now,_ I quickly thought.

Tearing my gaze from the two prints, I handed them over to my friends. Both women leaned towards each other to look. I wish I had a camera on me right there and then because their expressions were priceless.

Tessa nearly spat out her mouthful of wine.

Maddie let out an involuntary, “Holy shit,” despite herself, biting at her lip and staring at the photos as if they were making her seriously question her sexuality.

I allowed myself a little triumphant smile that my finished photos had caused such a reaction. I had poured so much love and care into them... Up til the wee small hours, stiff-shouldered, my aching eyes strained and exhausted from hours upon hours working on the images, making sure they were absolutely perfect; while listening to the _Mary Poppins Returns_ soundtrack on repeat for added inspiration

Tessa let out an appreciative whistle.

“Damnnn... ‘ _Handsome, boy, does he know it!_ ’Well, this is just starting to become rude now. Christ, how is it possible for you to make someone this gorgeous look even _more_ gorgeous? {Y/N}, you’re a wizard, I swear!”

I beamed. It always made me happy to hear when my work was appreciated.

“You are _so_ lucky that you got to spend a day with all this beautifulness,” my friend continued with a gushy sigh, ”Does he look just as good in real life? Please don’t shatter my dreams and tell me that he behaved like a total arse and the whole ‘human ray of sunshine’ thing is a myth.”

“No, it’s not a myth,” I assured her, “It’s very real. He’s very lovely...very kind...very excitable and bouncy - seriously, he must have an inbuilt trampoline or something...”

“He’s a Trampo-Lin!” chimed in Tessa, cackling at her own joke. 

“He’s very handsome - even more handsome in person I reckon. Very self-deprecating, very fun to be around. Very easy to talk to. Overall he’s very....” I twirled my hand around as I tried to find another adjective that fitted, “...‘Very’.”

Tessa’s impish features split into a wide grin, her tongue wedged between her teeth as she eyed the print of Lin.

“Sounds like it. ‘Very’ indeed. I’d ‘very’ that all night long.”

Maddie groaned, “Oh my god, how are you a mother?”

“Hey, it’s this kind of talk that got me where I am today, thank you,” Tessa chirped.

Maddie rolled her eyes and asked me, “When will you know about your photos anyway?”

“Sent them off to Claudia,” I answered with a sigh, “She emailed me back saying she’d received them and...that was it. And I still haven’t heard anything from her either way... The suspense is _killing_ me!” I added, throwing up my hands in frustration, “I think that woman lives to make you suffer.”

“{Y/N}?” Tessa said abruptly, “Did you see this?”

I snapped out of my thoughts and glanced over to see the redhead had been gazing at something on her phone.

“He’s mentioned you on his twitter and everything! Well - not _you_ specifically but the shoot...”

“Who has?” I said vaguely. This wine was now beginning to kick in and making me slow and sleepy.

“Linnamon Roll has! Who do you think, the Archbishop of Canterbury?” said Tessa, and Maddie scrunched her nose.

“ ‘Linnamon Roll’? _Really?_ ” I heard her mutter but her blue eyes twinkled with amusement all the same.

“He has?”

Tessa rolled her eyes a little in good nature.

“When are you ever gonna get an account?”

“Prefer instagram,” I replied stubbornly as she all but shoved the phone under my nose.

I had two instagram accounts, actually. One for business purposes to showcase my professional portfolio, and one for personal use. The twitterverse, however, was not somewhere I ventured to very much.

Like I said before, I was never the sort to fawn over celebrities. I had too many things to juggle with in my own life, let alone concern myself with others I didn’t even know.

I had always been merely a casual fan of Lin’s work. I knew he was a prolific tweeter of course but I wasn’t the type of person who followed a celebrity’s every waking move religiously on social media. 

 

 **@Lin_Manuel**

_you guys at **@soulmaglondon** are practically perfect in every way_

_you made this dork’s dreams come true today_

 

“He said you’re practically perfect and you made his dreams come true, awww that’s so cute,” Tessa cooed.

But I was distracted when a text alert sounded again and I picked my own phone up (a bit too quickly), my heart racing once more. But it wasn’t another message from Lin this time...

“Oh god, speaking of! Claudia’s just emailed me!” I gasped, suddenly alert again and sitting up straight in my seat, to which both girls let out dramatic gasps.

Heart now thudding with anticipation, I skim-read the email.

“What’s she say?” asked Tessa in hushed tones.

“ ...Bla, bla, bla... She wants me to come to her office first thing in the morning for a meeting,” I said, reading the message aloud to them.

“And?” Maddie prompted, eyebrows raised as she waited for me to continue.

“That’s it,” I shrugged, “She doesn’t give a reason.”

What on earth did that mean? All of a sudden, my stomach lurched with nerves. Why couldn’t Claudia just tell me?? Did she not realise how excruciating this was for me? See what I meant? I think she actually enjoyed making people squirm.

My friends both made ‘ooooh’ noises at me like I was a naughty school pupil who had been summoned to see the headteacher.

While I was replying to Claudia’s email, confirming that I would be there to see her in the morning, I was only half listening to the others’ chatter in the background.

“Do you think anyone warned Lin-Manuel Miranda that here in the UK we call underwear ‘pants’?” Tessa mused, tapping her nails thoughtfully against her glass.

“Oh, don’t tell me we’re back on the trousers/leggings debate again?” sighed Maddie.

“Well, I was just thinking...if it ever came up in conversation and he did the _‘I think your pants look hot, I like you a lot’,_ who knows where that might lead? Unless...that’s where you _wanted_ to be led?” she added with a wicked grin, cackling.

“God, someone save me from these loonies please... Babes, I think you’ve had enough,” Maddie said firmly, trying to wrench Tessa’s wine glass away.

While the two were preoccupied, however, I also messaged Lin:

_Got a meeting with Claudia tomorrow!_

_EEEK_                                                        

A few minutes later, I had a reply.

_Everything will be fine_

_go get em you stunner_

 

~*~

 

My legs felt leaden as I trod the now familiar path towards the magazine editor’s sleek and shiny office.

Surely Claudia summoning to see me in person was a good thing, right? Right?

Wanting to make up for my lateness on the day of the shoot, I had turned up early. Now I almost wished I hadn’t as I was told by Claudia’s snooty secretary that I had to sit and wait.

I was too jittery to remain seated, however. Mouth dry, palms clammy, I took to pacing up and down the corridor, much to the secretary’s irritation, my arms hanging awkwardly, not knowing what to do with my hands without the familiar feel of a camera in their grasp.

Oh, I felt absolutely sick. It was like I was about to be led to my execution.

Uncomfortably aware of the secretary’s wrathful gaze boring into me, and her poorly-disguised tutting and irritated sighs because of my continuous pacing, I finally sat down. My foot jiggling nervously, I pulled out my phone in order to try distract myself instead.

Without really realising what I was doing, I kicked the habit of a lifetime and decided to check out Lin’s twitter account. I looked at a tweet that he had posted that very morning.

 

**@Lin_Manuel**

_Gmorning you._

_Yes, you._

_Take a breath._

_Then another._

_Repeat._

_You got this._

_I believe in you._

_Okay, let’s go_

 

This surely was pure coincidence, yet I couldn't help but feel extremely grateful for the timing of these words right now. A smile crept its way across my face, feeling the pent-up tension in my chest ease just a little. Those simple but encouraging words were like a soothing balm on my overwrought nerves. It was comforting.

The office door opened and out appeared Claudia, looking immaculate and formidable as always.

“Good morning, {Y/N}, nice to see you,” she greeted me with a smile which did not meet her steely grey eyes, proffering her hand like royalty.

It felt less like going to see the headteacher but more like being granted an audience with the Queen. Fighting the impulse to curtsy, I politely returned her smile even if I could feel my stomach churn.

Hoping very much I wasn’t going to throw up all over her designer heels, I shook her hand in greeting.

“Morning,” I answered, trying to pick up any hints from her body language but got nothing. The editor was definitely _not_ an easy woman to read.

“Do come in and take a seat...” she said.

This was it. The moment of truth. Everything I had worked towards these last six months had led to this point. But was it going to be enough?

Deciding to heed Lin’s advice, I took a deep, steadying breath...

 _I believe in you.._.

...and followed Claudia into her office.

 

~*~

 

_A/N: Hope you liked this chapter, loves! I’ll try not to be so long between updates next time but I’ve got a ton of stuff going on and even though it feels like I’m pulling teeth, writing is the only thing keeping me sane right now._

_Also... I’ve got a smidge of an idea for another Lin/reader fic set at the time last year when he was shooting in Wales for His Dark Materials and he rocked up to that bar in Cardiff to do karaoke and stuff? Would anyone be interested in that at all...?_

_I’d love to hear from you all! Much love <3_

 


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